My Father Thinks I'm An Appetizer
by GeneralWildfire
Summary: Set after Breaking Dawn, a young girl will soon learn that her family are not what they claim to be. When she learns the truth, what new challenges will await her?
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Running from a creature that I'd come to love and respect was not something on my top ten things I want do list…but it's something that was inevitable…when you lived with vampires you lived on the edge.

_One. Two._ I whipped to the left, trying to avoid the killer that was behind me, taking his sweet old time, knowing that he could take me at anytime.

I remembered my brother's words, _"They're stronger, and faster, but they are not smart, you'll just have to outmaneuver them…"_ One. Two. Turn again, a different way, making my path confusing. One. Two. Whip around and bolt backgrounds, throwing him off my tail…hopefully! It was a good thing that I was in Track, not to mention that I was abnormally fast for a human, one of the few perks of living with vampires. One. Tw-!

I felt my foot catch against something, a root most likely, and I tried to wrench it free, but that only made things worse as I fell to the ground, my right foot still caught in the root's hold. Pushing myself up, I tried desperately to regain my feet, but something wrenched my foot free from the root and threw me across the clearing, as I hit a tree, the wind rushing from my lungs, I gazed at the predator, as he stalked forward, he grabbed me by my left arm and lifted me up, grinning at me, showing his white, sharp teeth, before he flung me across the clearing once again. He didn't wait for me to hit the ground, he was next to me, still grinning, he stepped on my arm and a sickening snap resounded throughout the clearing, and I barely managed to contain my scream.

The predator taunted, "Come now, scream, this won't be fun if you don't scream." He stepped on my left arm and I hissed in pain, refusing to scream. My consciousness was fading but I could swear a familiar snarl split the air…


	2. Chapter 1: The Beach

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I moaned as I heard my father's voice close to my right ear, "Come on, sleepy head. It's time to get up. Breakfast's going to be ready in a few minutes."

"It'z not tim yet!" I moaned in response.

My father laughed softly and said, "I guess that means you don't want to go to the beach today."

"I'm up!" I announced as I sat up quickly. He laughed as he straightened up. "What?"

"Nothing," my father said smiling. "I'll see you downstairs."

I watched my father, Carlisle, leave the room, making sure he closed my bedroom door. I sighed as I began to set clothes out for after breakfast. _Hiro and I are going to the beach today…I wonder if Dad will actually take us to La Push?_ A small knock on the door told me that Alice was seeking entrance into my room.

"Don't come in!" I shouted. _Plus…I really don't want any fashion tips today._

Alice whined, "Aw… Come on! It's only a little advice!"

"No! A little usually means a lot!" I answered quickly, setting out my wardrobe and slipping out of her room.

Alice had been waiting, "Why don't you want my advice?"

"Because I get it too often," I replied.

"Quit torturing her," Jasper said as he seemed to materialize behind Alice. "She's old enough now to have her own style."

Alice sighed and leaned against Jasper, "Yeah…I suppose."

I barely managed to hold back a gag as Jasper kissed Alice. But you used to this kind of thing since all of my adopted siblings are together. Jasper and Alice are together, so were Edward and Bella, along with Emmett and Rosalie. I knew my classmates all found this weird, but I ignored them. None of them liked me and the feeling was mutual on my end.

As I descended the stairs to the living room, I couldn't help wondering, _Edward's usually up by now…_ A voice called my name from the bottom of the stairs and I thought, _speak of the Devil!_

Edward met me at the bottom of the stairs and playfully ruffled my hair, "And how's the brat doing this morning?"

I slapped his hand away, "Fine until I learned that you were awake!"

Carlisle said from his position at the dining room table, "Let's not start this early!" It was a normal routine for Edward and I to annoy each other.

"Sure," Edward said, giving my hair one, last, good ruffle before he headed upstairs. I, childishly, stuck my tongue out at his retreating back.

My mother, Esme, walked into the room carrying three plates. She set them down on the table and kissed my cheek. She said, "Good morning, sleepy head. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," I answered as I sat at the table, across from Carlisle. "Until Dad woke me up!" We all laughed as they all began to eat.

I looked from my father to my mother, taking notes, once again of the differences between us. My father's hair was blond while my mother's hair was a dark brown, almost black in color, while my hair was light brown. Both of them had light brown eyes and pale skin, while I had fair skin and green eyes.

I sighed as I thought of the explanation my father had given me for their skin color, _"All of us have a rare disease that causes us to have pale skin, and that's also the reason we can't go out into the sunlight, otherwise we'd all get nasty blisters."_

_"But, why don't I have the same problem?"_

_"Um…well…it's because this disease is a…dominant trait, and you were blessed in getting recessive alleles."_

I couldn't help sighing again sparking a question from my father, "Everything all right?"

"Yeah," I answered quickly, realizing that I'd sighed again. "I was just thinking."

My mother asked, "About what, dear?"

"Oh…Just things," I said trying to sound nonchalant.

Carlisle smiled and said, "Got a lot of things on your mind then?"

I forced a smile, "Yeah!"

"Well, maybe going to the beach will help," Carlisle said, as he stood up.

I asked hopefully, "Are we going to La Push?"

"Only if you want Uncle Jacob to take you," her father answered.

"How come you only take me to La Push on holidays?" I questioned. I had heard plenty of excuses, but she wanted to hear what today's was.

"I don't like bothering Aunt Nessie and Uncle Jacob, nor do I like you complaining about the fact that we don't go as often as you'd like."

I decided to stop pestering my dad, it took a lot to annoy him, and I was getting very close to doing just that. _I guess I should consider it lucky that he decided to take Hiro and I today._

Carlisle walked into the kitchen with his dirty dishes, and Esme said to me, "Try not to aggravate your father today. He's under a lot of stress."

"Okay," I said, but I glanced towards the kitchen, _what's got Dad so stressed out? Is it something I did…my grades are okay…so what's bothering him?_

He walked back out of the kitchen, and said, "Go take a shower and come back down, ready to go to the beach."

I nodded, feeling happy at the thought of going to the beach, _so what if it's not La Push? At least Dad's taking us and not Edward or Emmett. _I shuddered at the thought of either of my overprotective brothers taking me to the beach.

Minutes later, I was dressed in her navy blue swimsuit, with black shorts on for the ride there.

Before stepping off the porch, Carlisle glanced at the sky and sighed, going back inside to grab a jacket.

I glanced at the sky, and sighed as well. There were clouds in the sky, but it was obvious that the clouds would soon be gone, or that there would only be a few left to hide the sun.

I said, somewhat reluctantly, "You don't have to take Hiro and I to the beach today if you don't want to."

Carlisle laughed as he stroked my left cheek, "You're so thoughtful, but I did promise that I would take you two today, and since I took the day off from work, I think I should take you."

I smiled up at him as he walked down the porch steps and to the garage with all the grace of a well trained gymnast. I wondered, for the umpteenth time, how I could be, in any way, related to him or to Esme, I was so different from them, it just made no sense to me. Carlisle stopped walking when he realized that I wasn't following and asked, "Are you all right? You're not getting sick are you?" Concern showed in his every word.

I walked towards him, reassuring him, "No, Dad, I'm…fine…" I trailed off as I met my father's gaze. They were blacker than the usual light brown. I asked, "Are you feeling okay, Dad?"

He looked at me questioning, "Yes, I'm fine…why?"

"You're eyes…they're black," I stated.

"Oh, right," Carlisle said laughing, "you know that's because of the little sunlight there is." He continued walking towards the garage to get his Mercedes.

I followed slowly, _he can't even remember that he originally told me that his eyes turned black when he had been exposed to too much sunlight. Not when there was really no sunlight… Why is he lying?_

Carlisle pulled out the black Mercedes and I slid into the back seat, worrying my father enough to the point of asking again, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Fine, just feeling a bit lazy since it's the last day of summer break," I said thinking of an excuse for not sitting in my usual spot next to him.

He nodded and said, "You'll be fine tomorrow. You're classmates are not wild animals or anything like that."

"You haven't met any of my classmates, except when they're in the hospital with their parents," I said as I rolled my eyes.

Carlisle looked at me through the rearview mirror, "Too true, but I'm sure they're not as bad as you're brothers."

"Yeah, true," I muttered, _not! They make my brothers look like angels!_ I didn't' want to worry him with the bullies at school. Not to mention all the teasing I received about not being a "model" like the rest of my family.

I was relieved slightly when Carlisle pulled up in front of an everyday house, unlike the house I lived in. Her best friend Hiro darted out of the house wearing swim trunks and trying to put on a T-shirt. He tripped halfway to the car. Carlisle was about to get out of the car, when Hiro gave a thumbs up, before standing up and dashing to the car. He opened the door and smiled as he said, "Nice to see you again, Sara."

"Same here, Hiro," I replied gazing at him. Hiro's black hair hung over his eyes slightly, it always seemed to be just a smidge to long, but it fit Hiro's personality. Hiro was a happy go lucky kid, always happy, not to mention clumsy, but he never seemed to mind. He could be cowardly, but he usually tried his best to be brave…it didn't usually work, but at least he tried.

He asked excitedly, "What beach are you taking us to, Mr. Cullen? La Push?" He added hopefully.

Carlisle smiled, "Not La Push, just the small beach here in Forks. It will be nice and quiet so you two can enjoy yourselves."

Hiro whined, "Come on, Mr. Cullen, please take us to La Push? La Push has the best beach around and this is the last day of summer. Everybody at school has been there but us!"

Carlisle looked torn for a minute, but he said, "Sorry, Hiro, you're both still going to the beach in Forks. Simple as that."

"Man," Hiro moaned, "I really wanted to go to La Push."

I tried to cheer him up, "Hiro, come on, at least we're going to a beach."

"But it's La Push," Hiro insisted. "La Push is…well, La Push." Hiro said smiling.

"If you don't stop saying, La Push, I'm going to 'La Push' you into the water when we get to the beach," I stated, smiling.

Hiro laughed and said, "I won't say L.P. anymore, okay?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling at my friend.

Carlisle parked the Mercedes under the shade of a tree as he said, "We're hear."

Hiro looked baffled and said, "How did we get here so fast? It usually takes my parents fifteen minutes to get here!"

Carlisle looked nervous for a split second, but he laughed and said, "Maybe it just seems like it takes longer since you're not with your best friend."

"Maybe," Hiro said reluctantly looking at the digital clock.

Carlisle promptly opened his door and stepped out of the car. He said over his shoulder, "I might as well enjoy the day while I still can."

Hiro and I both opened our doors, and I glanced at the sky again. My father maybe had a few minutes to enjoy the rain free day before he would have to retreat to his car in the shade.

He said to them, "Go enjoy your day at the beach, I'll just read for awhile while you're swimming."

"Okay, Dad," I called over my shoulder as Hiro and I bolted towards the beach. We both leapt into the water with shouts of joy.

I heard the car door close, signaling that my father had decided that the sun would be out soon, and said to Hiro, "I think my Dad's hiding something from me…I think my whole family is."

Hiro asked, "Why couldn't you ask while you're dad was out here watching us?"

"Because he has ears like a hawk!" I said.

"Not as good as Edward's," Hiro stated.

"Too true," I admitted, "anyway, my dad is having problems remembering what he's told me about the sickness. Today he messed up with explaining why his eyes were…dilated." _Hiro doesn't need to know that they change color…_

"Maybe he forgot. Remember, he has all sorts of things to remember so he can be a great doctor," he said, treading water.

I insisted, "But this isn't the first thing he's messed up on. Just recently I asked him the same question about his skin disease and he gave two different answers, three if you count his original answer when I was younger."

Hiro said teasingly, "Maybe my vampire theory is right!"

I dunked him, holding him under the water for a few seconds, before I allowed him back up.

Hiro sputtered, "What?"

"You know I don't like you talking about my family that way," I stated, angrily.

He sighed, "Aw…come on! You know I'm only joking!"

I smiled, "Yeah, but you do realize that if they're vampires, then I'd be one too!"

"But your family would be the nice vampires," Hiro said, "You know, like the heroes in a book."

"Thank God my life isn't a novel," I said, "Otherwise, whoever was writing it would have to be crazy!"

Hiro laughed, "Yeah, I know what you mean!"

Several hours later, we swam back to the beach and walked to the car, Carlisle was asleep in the driver's seat, his book resting on his chest. I tapped on the window, and Carlisle awoke, looking slightly groggy, but he handed me my towel and then reached in the back for Hiro's handing it to him.

Once we were decently dry, we both hopped into the backseat of the Mercedes and Carlisle turned in his seat and said, "We're going to sit here for awhile until the sun sets, or some clouds cover the sun, is that all right with you two?"

"Sure," Hiro and I both said at the same time, bursting into laughter.

Carlisle smiled at both of us, before looking at the sky as clouds covered the sun. "Looks like we'll be leaving sooner than I planned…" He started the car and began the drive to Hiro's house.

I watched the clock closely, my eyes getting wider and wider as we arrived at Hiro's house in five minutes.

Hiro said, oblivious to the time that it took to get to his house, "Thanks, Mr. Cullen! See ya tomorrow, Sara!"

"See ya, Hiro," I said as I slipped into the front seat. I asked my dad, "Do you know what Mom's making for dinner tonight?"

Carlisle smiled, "I know, and I'm positive you'll like it."

"Pizza!" I said joyfully, keeping an eye on the speedometer.

Carlisle laughed, following my gaze, he questioned, "Do you think I'm going to speed when my daughter-in-law, your sister, Bella, is the daughter of Chief Swan? I think not."

I sulked, but said, "I didn't think you were going to speed, I was just curious about something."

"What?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"It was nothing," I said staring out the window.

Carlisle said, "It must not be nothing if you wanted to know."

I sighed in defeat, "Okay, I thought we got to Hiro's house, from the beach, in five minutes…but I guess I just read the clock wrong."

He laughed with me, "I think you did read it wrong. It takes fifteen minutes to get from the beach to Hiro's house."

"Yeah, I must have read it wrong," I conceded. I knew that I had seen the clock right, I was just missing some pieces to a larger puzzle…the puzzle that was my family.

Carlisle quickly changed the subject, "Are you ready for school tomorrow?"

"No," I stated.

He laughed, "You'll be fine."

"Dad…school is torture!"

Carlisle laughed loudly, "I'm sure it's not that bad considering you get such good grades."

He glanced at me as I slid down slightly in the seat, sulking. "I know you don't like school, but it's best that you go."

"I could always be home schooled!" I suggested hopefully.

"I teach you about the Bible every Sunday, and you can barely handle that…What makes you think that you can handle everyday lessons on subjects you despise just as much?" He questioned.

I answered, defensively, "I don't despise your lessons over the Bible…I just don't see why they're necessary. We never go to church, and you never put my siblings through it."

Carlisle pointed out, "Your siblings were teenagers when Esme and I adopted them, we weren't going to force them to change their ways."

"Still," I grumbled.

He ruffled my hair, "You'll understand once you're a bit older." The car rolled into the drive, "Do you have any last minute assignments you need to get done?"

"No," I answered truthfully.

"Good," Carlisle said as he pulled the car into the garage.

I stared at the clock, it didn't take such a short time for Hiro's parents to reach our house, but then again, Carlisle knew the route better then they did.

Carlisle stepped out of the car and said, "I'm sure your mother is eagerly awaiting your arrival just to see your happiness at having pizza."

I leaned against his side as we walked up the porch and into the house, I could feel the coldness of his skin, even through his shirt, but I was used to this. All of my family had cold skin.


	3. Chapter 2: Realization

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Inside, my mother darted forward and kissed Carlisle, before she pulled me into a hug, kissing my forehead. She asked, "Are you both hungry? I have plenty of pizza, but the others left to eat out." A meaningful look went between the two, but I had no idea what it meant.

Carlisle answered, "Well, I know I'm starving, what about you, Sara?"

"Famished!" I said, smiling. My siblings had no taste in food, always eating out and apparently avoiding Esme's mouth-watering meals, the reason why escaped me!

"Good," she said, smiling, "it's all ready for all of us to eat whenever you two are ready."

Carlisle walked into the dining room while I said over my shoulder, "I'll be down in a minute, I just have to change."

A few minutes later, as I descended the stairs, I could barely hear my parents' voices; it sounded as if they were having an argument. I tried to soften my footfalls so they wouldn't hear me approaching, another thing my family had in common; extremely good hearing!

I was on the bottom step of the stairs, still, apparently undetected, and I managed to hear my mother say, "She has a right to know! We've kept it from her too long!"

I never got to hear my father's answer because he called from the dining room, "Are you going to come and eat or not?"

I walked in, blushing slightly; this wasn't the first time they had been arguing. However, this was the first time I had ever heard this argument. What were they keeping from me? What did I have the right to know about? My parents' expressions gave nothing away as I sat down; my father on my right, my mother sitting across the table. On the rare occasions that the rest of the family was present, Edward would sit next to me, Bella next to him, with Alice next to her, Jasper would sit across from her, with Emmett next to him and Rosalie between him and Esme, but, again, those were VERY rare occasions like major family holidays or my birthday. Carlisle grabbed my plate and placed a slice of pepperoni pizza on it, knowing that was my favorite. There were two other pizzas to choose from: cheese and mushroom, and just cheese. That usually meant cold lunch for me when school was in session, when I was at home; I got to have it heated. It tasted good either way.

Tonight though, after hearing their argument I wasn't very hungry. I forced my first slice down, and took a second, but there was no way a third slice would go down without consequences later. I pushed away from the table when my father placed his hand on top of mine; he looked concerned, "Are you all right?"

I debated between lying to him and telling him I was fine, or telling him the truth…he and my mother raised me too well, "What were you arguing about?"

A brief glance flashed between them again, both looking frustrated with the other in that split second, but Carlisle showed no sign of it as he said, "It's nothing to worry about."

I decided not to tell him that I knew their argument concerned me. I'd be in a mess of trouble if he knew that I had eavesdropped on them. Pulling my hand out from under his, my hand feeling like an ice pack had been on it, I put my dishes in the sink and walked upstairs to my room, just as my siblings made their entrance into the house.

Emmett called after me, seeing the pizza left in the room, "Hey! What's wrong with my little sister?"

I didn't answering, hearing Carlisle explain about his argument with Esme. For awhile, I sat on my bed gazing at my computer, reluctant to do what I was about to do…look up vampires on the internet…

Now, this may sound odd, but my best friend, Hiro, is really into the paranormal: ghosts, monsters, unexplained occurrences, the works, so when he said…somewhat jokingly, that he thought my family was a coven of vampires I laughed at him…but lately…the thought was stuck in my mind, but I usually tried not to think about it in front of Edward, he had this uncanny ability of knowing what I was thinking.

Think or speak of the devil and he shall appear! Edward opened my door and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing in particular," I murmured moving over to my CD collection. I saw Edward smile in approval that soon changed to horror as I grabbed a Montgomery Gentry CD. Now there are two types of music my brother hates, the first is 80's music, he simply despises it. The other is Country music, which I was a big fan of. Now don't get me wrong, I like the music Edward listens to, I just like Country better.

He complained as I stuck the CD in, "Didn't I teach you to listen to better?"

"Yes," I answered, as "If You Ever Stop Loving Me" began to play, "But I just like this type to music. I decided to emphasize the point by singing along with the lyrics, Edward made a quick exit.

I laughed silently as I heard him mutter, "Doesn't have any taste in music."

"Now you know how I feel," I heard Alice say from downstairs.

Without further ado, I turned on my laptop and waited impatiently for it to load. After the wait I clicked on the internet icon and Google appeared as my homepage, I began to type in "vampire" but when the option "vampires a-z" appeared, I went with that. I clicked on the very first site since it looked promising, and it matched the wording exactly (a rarity). On the home page were these words:

_Throughout the shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both. _

_-Rev. Montague Summers_

_If there is in this world a well-attested account, it is that of vampires. Nothing is lacking: official reports, affidavits of well-known people, of surgeons, of priests, of magistrates; the judicial proof is most complete. And with all that, who is there who believes in vampires? _

_- Rousseau_

Kind of creepy, and not exactly comforting, but I began to go through the list, the A-B didn't have much apart from the excuses made up to keep wary travelers from traveling by night or in cemeteries and to remind men/women that they should not have sex with anyone but their wives/husbands. C-D wasn't very helpful either, the most interesting tale being of a vampire in Ireland drinking the blood from a women who cut her finger in its presence. By E-F, I was really beginning to fear for my life, were any vampires classified as good? I was hoping my family may be good vampires, but if there was no such thing. G-H was the briefest part of the site yet! I-J was no better then the rest, the same old drear. K-L had a fairy vampire (scary I know). On M-N, it mentioned that a Moroii, a Romanian vampire, was said to be like the Strigoii in characteristics, so I skipped to the S-T section. I instantly forgot the Strigoii as the first vampire on that page leapt to my attention:

Stregoni Benefici- An Italian vampire said to be on the side of goodness, and the mortal (ironic, no?) enemy to all evil vampires.

I couldn't help sighing in relief. My family had to be the good vampire, they just had to be! But I still wasn't sure if they were vampires so I typed in "definition of vampire".

The first site I clicked on told me nothing, the other sites were no better so I typed in "characteristics of a vampire". The first site was the common everyday stuff that everybody knew from Hollywood movies, so I moved on to the next one. The next site was based on the medical condition of vampirism (I really have to read the site names better!). Wikipedia was no help at all nor were any of the other sites I clicked on, so I decided to click on one of the suggestions "Traits Vampires" this was no more helpful then the previous searches! So I typed in "vampire qualities" hoping for better results. No such luck, so I tried "vampire abilities". I finally found a promising site; it simply gave a list of a vampire's abilities and physical traits:

Immortal & extremely beautiful

Cold skin

Superhuman strength

Blinding speed

Heightened senses

Doesn't need to breath

Blood drinkers

I stared at the computer dumbfounded, before looking at several other sites,

all of them with the same information, my mind making a mental list of all the characteristics that applied to my family, beginning a trip down memory lane…

_Immortal & extremely beautiful: No need for a flash back here, this is _

_a simple answer, my unrelated parents and siblings are all beautiful, I'm not, end of story._

_Cold skin: Simple. All of my family has cold skin minus me! Two _

_checkmarks…_

_Superhuman strength: It had been one day when I was four._

_I had wanted to go for a walk in the woods near our house; Emmett went with to make sure that I didn't get into any trouble. After several minutes of walking I begged, "Can we please play hide and seek?"_

_My giant teddy-bear of a brother agreed of course! I had him count while I hid. It had rained the previous night and I slid under a large log…big mistake. The next thing I knew, my entrance was closed, sealing me in. I began to cry. I didn't know if Emmett would be able to find me. I now WANTED to be found. I screamed his name through my sobs, and I barely heard his panicked shouts, calling for me. This didn't help; my sobbing became so bad that I couldn't shout anything to him. I remember squeezing my eyes shut, afraid that I wouldn't see any of my family again… The next thing I knew, I was in Emmett's arms as he wiped my tears away and told me never to do that again. I didn't think of it at the time but…how did he lift that log? It had to be at least three times his size, and it wasn't exactly hollow either! This makes checks three for vampire characteristics!_

_Blinding speed: Another walk in the woods! But this was when I was _

_in Kindergarten. Once again I had wanted to walk in the nearby woods, but Edward accompanied me this time. We approached the stream that was nearby and I pulled myself up onto the log so I could cross._

_Edward warned, "Be careful or you'll fall in and hurt yourself."_

_Needless to say, I ignored him. I wasn't being very careful of where I stepped and I was halfway across the log. Edward stood patiently on dry land, waiting for me to cross so he could walk to the other side. I should have heeded his warning, I slipped on the log and plummeted towards the water…but I never hit the water. Edward stood waist high in the water, having caught me._

_He scolded me, "Didn't I tell you to be careful? I'll never hear the end of it from Esme or Carlisle when they notice my jeans!"_

_Okay, that's four checkmarks now…_

_Heightened senses: Another easy one, they all seem to be able to hear _

_what I'm doing, even if I'm not in the same room, they can always tell when I have been injured (smell of blood?), and they can see things from further distances then I can! Wait…that's five checkmarks now!_

_Doesn't need to breath: (I should really stop while I'm ahead!) _

_There was one occasional when I was in second grade. I had never been on a family camping trip before, and I really wanted to go on that day's one. Part of the reason was to skip school but the other was that I wanted to feel like I was apart of the family. (Yes, even then I had doubts!) I begged my father to let me go with them this time, and amazingly, he agreed without any hesitation as he called the school to let them know that I would not be there._

_After packing and a long hike, which my father had to carry me for most of the way, along with his pack and mine (superhuman strength again), we made it to our campsite. I watched as the rest of my family pitched their tents (I slept with my parents in their tent) trying to make sure I memorized every detail so I could help the next time._

_Carlisle said, once they tents had been pitched, "Edward, Bella, Rosalie, and Emmett can find some wood for the fire towards the North. Jasper and Alice can look towards the East. And Esme, Sara, and I will look towards the West."_

_I followed my parents eagerly, hoping to find some good wood to use for a fire…I couldn't reach any of the branches that my parents found, but I wasn't detoured. I figured when I was taller I would be able to get some decent firewood._

_Just as we got back into camp, everyone else already setting down their gathered wood, thunder boomed overhead, making me jump and cower behind my mother._

_Alice said, "This would be a great time to play ball…Carlisle, are you going to play?"_

_"I don't see why not," he answered._

_I didn't think anything of it about what a strange time it was for baseball, but I asked, "Dad, can I come too?"_

_My mother answered, "No sweetie, you'll have to stay here."_

_"Aren't you going to stay too?" I was terrified to be alone in the camp by myself; we have cougars in Washington state for crying out loud!_

_"I have to referee, they all cheat!" She gave everyone, including my father, a hard, but loving stare. "We won't be long!"_

_It was long enough, thunder sounded every few seconds after my family had left, and to top it off, a large animal was prowling around the camp, snuffling near the entrance to my tent every now and then, I had a frying pan to defend myself with if the animal came in, but it never did. Lightning never flashed to throw a shadow of the creature onto the tent walls, but I really didn't care. It was probably best not knowing what was outside the tent._

_When I finally heard my family's return, I unzipped the tent and bolted out of the tent, slamming into my father (which really hurt! Like running into a brick wall!). _

_Jasper asked from several feet away, seeming to sense my distress, (he always seems to know what I'm feeling) "What happened? Why are you so upset?"_

_"There was something prowling around the tent!" _

_Carlisle spoke in a soothing tone, "I'm sure it was only a small animal, nothing that could hurt you."_

_I believed him. With my family so close, it was hard to be afraid. I pulled away from him, having spotted Emmett, and grabbed my pillow, hoping for a pillow fight. When I got back outside though, Emmett had disappeared._

_I must have looked pretty dejected because my father walked into the tent. I paid him little attention until a pillow whopped me in the back of the head._

_I whipped around, startled, my siblings showing the same kind of surprise at my father's sudden attitude._

_Now, for everyone else, this may seem like normal, fatherly behavior, but my father isn't an ordinary father. He simply doesn't act silly or do anything that is childlike. So him hitting me in the back of the head with a pillow was a big deal._

_My mother seemed to be the only one who wasn't surprised; she merely smiled at us as we began a pillow fight, once I had recovered from my initial shock._

_My mother was also right in stating that my father and siblings liked to cheat. After I had whopped him several times with my pillow, my father scooped me up into his arms and we rolled down the slight incline near our camp._

_Once we had hit the bottom, he said, "I believe I win."_

_"You cheated!" I answered, cuddling against him._

_He sighed. I waited for him to inhale again…he didn't…I waited several minutes before I finally asked, panic stricken, "Dad?"_

_He answered, "Yes? What's wrong?"_

_"You weren't breathing…" I answered._

_As if on cue, I felt his chest move, "I merely dozed off for a minute and I wasn't breathing as heavily as you're accustomed to."_

I now know that those statements, along with several others were lies. My father, and the rest of my family, were hiding something from me. I didn't want to answer the last question of what characteristics vampires had. That was one thing I didn't want to think about. But everything else fit, the mixed up answers to questions about the cold skin and eye color along with the argument my parents were having earlier. I was positive on one thing. Hiro had been right. My family was indeed a coven of vampires!


	4. Chapter 3: Decision

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

As the shock of realizing that my family was a coven of vampires faded, I realized that it was far too quite downstairs. I cursed silently, knowing someone would hear even if I whispered the word. I had managed to foil Edward, but I forgot about my sister, Alice, who had this uncanny knack for knowing things. I made for my bedroom door, but stopped, panic gripping me. _What if they decide I know too much and want to decide to drink my blood! _I shoved that thought aside, how stupid am I? If they hadn't sampled my blood yet, I doubted they would start now. But apparently, they didn't want me to know they were vampires either so I had to go about this cautiously…just in case.

Opening the door of my room, the silence seemed to be heavier, more anxious, and it just got worse and worse as I walked down the stairs. My family stood rigidly near the bottom of the stairs; apparently they had been waiting for me.

I said, trying to keep my voice steady, "We need to talk."

Carlisle nodded, and motioned for me to sit down. I decided to stand since they were all standing.

I stated, deciding that finesse might not be the best approach, "You're all vampires aren't you?"

Part of me desperately hoped they would instantly deny it, saying that I had an overactive imagination, but no one appeased that part of me. Instead, Carlisle sighed loudly and said, turning to Alice, "Your vision was correct." He turned back to me, "Yes, we are vampires."

My poor, little brain went into shock. I had thought that they were vampires upstairs in my room yes. But to hear my father…my father! Say that it was true, was far, far worse.

Before true terror could set in, a wave of calm swept over me. Carlisle glanced at Jasper quickly before speaking again, "Though we are vampires, none of us would ever hurt you."

"Yeah, not even Carlisle!" Emmett chimed in, "Even though your blood smells the best to him."

Rosalie smacked him in the back of the head, but surprisingly, I didn't panic or become terrified that my father considered me an appetizer.

Carlisle glanced at Jasper again, "Perhaps you should let her…" He trailed off.

Jasper shot him an incredulous look, but he nodded…good feeling gone! Panic set in. My father! My doctor father wanted my blood! I asked timidly, trembling slightly, "Does that mean I'm like an appetizer?"

Emmett answered before Carlisle could, "You're more of a meal now."

Rosalie struck him in the back of the head so hard that a crack resounded throughout the house and Emmett hit the floor.

Carlisle said, "I've grown accustomed to your scent. I would never hurt you."

Something in his voice made me think differently; I didn't quite believe him. Edward said suddenly, "Carlisle means every word that he says."

I stared, dumbfounded, at Edward. I know for a fact that I did not speak aloud.

Edward said, "Some vampires have extra abilities. Jasper can control and sense emotions, Alice can see the future, Bella is a mental shield, and I can read minds."

I wasn't sure who to glare at: Jasper, Edward, or Alice. I narrowed it down to Alice or Edward… Finally I settled on Edward. He seemed indifferent to my glare.

But Edward wasn't the biggest of my problems. My father wanted my blood, I was certain of that, even if he said that he was used to its scent, I knew part of him still yearned for it. I was hoping Edward would say differently…he didn't.

Jasper looked nervously between me and Carlisle, maybe even Esme to. Slowly though, my fear drifted away and numerous questions came into my head, so I began to ask them.

The first one seemed the simplest to answer, "If I'm your daughter does that mean…?"

Esme answered, looking ashamed, "We adopted you. None of us can have children," she gestured to Alice, Rosalie, and Bella. "It was easier to just have put our names on your birth certificate then to place you in an orphanage, and then adopt you. The hospital thought it was best…and easier as well."

"Who were my real parents?" I asked, feeling sick and betrayed.

Carlisle answered, speaking softly, "They were teenagers who weren't ready to have a child…they left you at the hospital."

Anger surged through me suddenly, and Jasper's eyes widened, but before a peaceful wave of calm could overcome, and I knew it was coming, I shouted, "I hate you! All of you!" I bolted for the stairs, tears in my eyes, but no one stopped me, which surprised me. Some small part of my mind wondered if I had hurt them, but I didn't care. They had hurt me first! They had lied to me about everything, who they were and who I was to them, and worst of all, my father, who I loved so much, wanted my blood.

I threw open my door and then slammed it shut, imagining them all flinching from the sound of it, hoping that they could hear my anger in that gesture. I even hoped Edward was reading my mind, I wanted him to know how badly I had been hurt by their lies, I wanted it understood that I was in pain.

I stared at my room, and collapsed on my bed, muffling the sobs that wracked through me, suddenly, I didn't want anyone to be listening, I just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. I wanted things to go back to how they were: me blind to everything that my family was.

Even though it felt like seconds when my sobbing finally subsided, I knew it had to be longer, a knock sounded against my door, and Esme peered in through the doorway, asking softly, "Do you need anything?"

It was hard to be angry with my mother…my adopted mother. She had always treated me like her own child, and then I remember the argument from earlier that day; she had wanted to tell me, only my father had wanted me to be unaware of the situation. I unconsciously made a decision as I answered her, "No, I'm fine…thanks."

She gave me a tentative smile before closing the door. The decision I had made was it wasn't anybody's fault but Carlisle's. He was the head of the family, so he could keep everybody from telling me that I was adopted into a family of vampires and that he wanted to drink my blood. I couldn't blame the rest of the family for the head's decision. I decided that I would only give my father the cold shoulder, not the rest of them; not my mother, not my brothers, nor even my sisters…just him.


	5. Chapter 4: Adjusting

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

A sound…no a voice, woke me up the next morning, the first day of school…high school no less. But I couldn't understand what the voice was saying. I listened more closely, my groggy brain catching up on the last word, "Three!" That was when my brother, Emmett, charged through my door.

"What is wrong with you?" I demanded, half shocked, half not. It was Emmett, so this didn't really surprise me.

Emmett grinned, "When you slammed your door last night, I assumed you locked it, so now the problem is solved!"

"It was never locked! I merely slammed it! What would a locked door do to keep vampires out?" Realization had finally snuck in. I now had no privacy…not unless I hid in the bathroom, but even then I doubted that I would have privacy anyway.

"What is going on up here?" Carlisle said, as he stood in the doorway. He took in the poor door on the floor. "Emmett…" He left it at that as Rosalie and Esme appeared behind him.

Esme walked around Carlisle and asked anxiously, "You're not hurt are you?" She glared at Emmett, who flinched. Esme could be scary when she wanted to be. "What if she had been near the door when you charged through? You could have hurt her!" I knew that another word had been on the tip of her tongue…killed. Emmett could have killed me with his kind of strength.

Rosalie stalked towards Emmett. Yes I said stalked! She moved like a predator ready to strike. Rosalie snapped, "If you had asked any one of us you would have known that the door wasn't locked!"

By now the whole family was in my room…apart from Carlisle who still stood just outside the threshold of my room.

Emmett said, "This is simple to fix!" He picked up the two door halves and inserted the door knob. The door fell in on itself. "Okay, so it's not such a simple fix."

"Yes it is," Carlisle said, "you will be buying her a new door and installing it." He moved away from the doorway and walked down the stairs. At least that's what assumed since I didn't hear his office door open or close.

Emmett walked out with a still angry Rosalie following, whispering to him so fast that I couldn't catch a single word.

Jasper studied me intently and I met his gaze evenly, "I'm okay, really." He nodded, but his eyes gave him away. He didn't believe me. Moving with the grace that everyone but me possessed, Jasper walked out of my room, Alice following. Just before Alice was completely out of my room she said, "Be careful with what you do today."

I was perplexed. What did she think I was going to do? Tell everyone that I lived with a coven of vampires? Please! Everybody would consider me insane and send me to solitary confinement!

Edward chuckled and I glared at him. It made sense now of all those times he had answered my thoughts! Pain in the a…I stopped mid thought when Edward gave me a nasty look. The mind reading was getting really old!

Bella must have sensed my annoyance, because she pushed Edward towards the door, "You can torment her later," she said, winking at me. I smiled. Bella had to be my favorite sister…Edward better not say a word or else Rosalie and Alice will be really pissed at me.

Esme smiled from the edge of my bed, "Breakfast will be ready for you once you're dressed."

I grabbed my clothes hurriedly from my dresser. With my door gone, nothing would be able to stop Alice from trying to pick my wardrobe! Within record time I was in the bathroom, the only place that I could POSSIBLY have some privacy.

I turned on the shower and took off my pajamas and allowed the warm water cascade over me. My thoughts from the night before began to push their way forward: _My family is a coven of vampires. Check. Am I okay with that? Sort of. I'm okay with the fact that my family is a coven of vampires. I'm not okay with the fact that my father wants my blood. _My decision from last night seemed to be justified: be mad at him, don't blame the rest of the family. Finished with my shower, I turned off the water and stepped out, drying myself off and putting on my clothes for the day. Alice would hate my wardrobe of a plain navy blue T-shirt and jeans, but her poofy contraptions always annoyed me.

I walked down the stairs from the bathroom and made my way to the dining room. Carlisle was in his usual spot at the table, reading the paper, but today, he didn't have any breakfast in front of him. Esme set a plate of eggs and bacon in front of me, but instead of sitting down with her own plate, she walked back into the kitchen. I didn't eat my breakfast; I knew my parents usually ate breakfast so…why weren't they now?

Carlisle looked up from reading the paper and glanced at my untouched breakfast, his voice was full of concern as he asked, "Are you all right? You're not feeling sick are you?"

"No, it's just…" I couldn't finish. I really didn't want to be talking to him.

He must have heard something in my tone, because his tone sounded awkward as he said, "Before you came we never ate anything. Eating to us is like eating dirt. Unpleasant, but it's something we can manage. Our diet usually consists of…" He trailed off, obviously uncomfortable with the subject.

Esme walked back in from the kitchen just then, "If it makes you feel more comfortable, we could eat with you like you're used to."

"That's okay," I answered quickly. No need to inconvenience them anymore. I knew the truth now so I had better start excepting this new reality.

Once I had finished my breakfast, Carlisle stood up, "Put your dishes in the sink and then I'll take you to school."

As I walked into the kitchen to rinse off my plate and utensils, a shiver went up my spine. Part of me had been hoping that Carlisle would continue to keep his distance, while the rest of me had accepted that the usual routines would continue.

I followed him out to the Mercedes and got in the front seat, keeping as much distance between us as possible. My father must have sensed my tension because he didn't try to make any small talk on the way to school.

He pulled into the school parking lot, and parked the car, just like he always did, except this was a different school, and he wanted to drink my blood. Carlisle said, "Try to have a good day today." He leaned in to give me a kiss, like he always did, but I flinched and pulled away, my imagination getting away from me. He pulled back quickly, pain in his eyes. As I opened the door he said just loud enough so I could hear, "I love you."

Anger flooded through me and I slammed the door. My father loved my blood, not me. The scent of my blood was all that gained any affection from him. I stormed towards the school doors when Hiro intercepted me, asking, "Are you all right? What happened?"

It was then, that I realized that I had tears in my eyes. I quickly wiped them away and answered Hiro's question, "My parents' just told me I was adopted and some other things that I can't discuss."

"Like what?" Hiro questioned, trying to be a good friend.

I smiled, "It's nothing really, just some stupid stuff that irritates me."

"Oh," Hiro said, knowing full well that the subject was closed. He quickly said, "Well at least you know now… but how did they fake the birth certificate?"

"The hospital just thought it was easier to hand me over to Dr. Cullen and his wife then to go through all the paperwork of sending me to an orphanage," I said bitterly.

Hiro stated, "You're really mad at your dad, aren't you."

It definitely wasn't a question. I could see it in his eyes; he had seen what had happened in the car…even if the windows were tinted, "Yeah. He's the head of the family. Whatever he says goes."

"That's rough," he said. I gazed at him perplexed. Hiro tried to explain, "I mean, I see where you're coming from and all, but it had to be a family decision not to tell you."

I silently conceded that he had a point, but I said, "You didn't hear the argument before they told me I was adopted."

"That bad, huh?" Hiro said as we walked into our first hour class, Biology. All conversation stopped as we sat down in at the same table and Mr. Banner started class by taking attendance. He called out several upper classmen's' names before he called out, "Sara Cullen?"

All eyes turned to me as I timidly said, "Here." Their gazes were critical, comparing me to my parents and my siblings, trying to find even one little detail that could be called "exquisite" or "beautiful". As they all turned away as Mr. Banner continued to take role, I could see it in their gazes. They were not impressed with me; the youngest Cullen.

Biology itself seemed very simple as Mr. Banner explained what we would be doing as the year progressed. First we would explore photosynthesis, and then it would progress from there until we got to DNA and genetics in preparation for Biology II. Everything he explained intrigued me; science was one of my best classes! Hiro didn't look as excited as I did, but Hiro was never one for science…or math for that matter. That's where we usually agreed.

As if to mock us, Algebra I was next on our list of courses together, the one pain that we could share. The teacher, Mr. Varner, seemed to hate me as soon as he called my name. I had a feeling Emmett and Bella may be to blame for that one. Bella was never good at math and Emmett probably pulled a prank…not that Mr. Varner didn't deserve one! He forced us to stand when he called our names, pausing so everyone in the room could get a good look at us. I swear he paused longer with me before moving on to his next poor victim.

U.S. History wasn't too bad; apart from when Hiro suggested that we study the history of the paranormal as a unit…I sank lower in my seat after that comment. P.E. was just before lunch for me, Hiro had English. Unlike Bella, I love P.E.! It's one of my favorite subjects! To Hiro's dismay, my favorite activities always involve running, but that may be because Edward always liked to challenge me to a race… Now that I know he's a vampire that explains why he always won with ease while I was usually close to keeling over.

At lunch, Hiro and I sat at the same deserted, table. No one wanted to sit next to the ugly Cullen and her strange friend.

Hiro looked around the cafeteria and asked, "What is everyone staring at?"

"Us," I answered, taking a bite out of my turkey club wrap.

He looked perplexed, "Why us?"  
"Because we're the weirdo's of the school, the geeks, do you need any more explanations?" I answered crossly.

Hiro looked hurt, "You couldn't have phrased it better?"

"Why bother?" I said, "It's still the same either way, we're once again at the bottom of the food chain."

"I like it better when you phrase it that way," Hiro murmured past his apple.

Sipping my milk I let my gaze wander around the cafeteria. I couldn't picture how my siblings must have seen it. They would have been the most popular of the school, and yet they chose not to be popular; they merely picked to stay amongst themselves. I sighed bringing a questioning gaze from Hiro. "I was picturing how my siblings must have been in school."

Hiro flinched, "Most popular kids in school."

"Sort of…they chose to keep to themselves," I answered, picking up my tray to take it to the counter.

Hiro followed me, his mouth hanging open, "They CHOSE not to be popular? Are they insane?"

"With their looks? They could be anything they wanted and still be cool," I answered.

The rest of the day flew by until my eighth hour class, English, the last class of the day. Don't get me wrong, I like English, but when it's the last class of the day you just want to go home, even if it was to a family of vampires. The bell sounded and I shot out of seat and headed towards my locker. Meeting Hiro just outside the school entrance, we waited for whichever sibling of mine that would be picking us up.

I spotted the silver Volvo before Hiro did, but I heard Hiro mutter, "It couldn't be a cooler car on our first day."

"Just be happy we weren't bullied today," I muttered back. Hiro flinched. Bullying for us usual involved getting punched or kicked, or whatever appealed to the bully at that point in time.

Edward rolled down the window and asked, "Are you going to stand in the rain all day?"  
(Yes it was raining, nothing new!) Hiro and I dashed to the Volvo. I slid into the front seat and Hiro slipped into the back. Seriously, he tripped into the back and slid across the seat.

Edward asked, trying not to laugh, "Are you all right, Hiro?"

"Never better!" Hiro answered happily. "And thanks for the ride."

"It's no big deal," Edward said. He turned to me and asked, "How was your first day?"

"Great," I lied. Edward scowled in response; he had obviously read my mind.

Edward played along, though his tone nearly gave him away, "I'm glad."

It took only a few minutes to get to Hiro's house, with Edward driving ninety the whole way.

Hiro said, "Wow, that was fast!" He got out of the car, "See ya tomorrow."

"See ya," I said, waving.

As soon as the door closed, Edward said, "So you had a great day?"

"Yes," I lied again.

Edward glared, "We can do this the easy way, where you just tell me, or the hard way, where I read your mind and learn what really went on either way."

I stuck my tongue out at him, "Fine! The day could have been better."

"Carlisle would agree with you," Edward said darkly. "Why are you putting the blame solely on him? We all made the decision not to tell you. We figured you should experience a…normal…human life for as long as possible. Now you just need to experience life as it comes."

"I still can't help being mad at Dad," I muttered.

Edward looked at me for several seconds, but the car never wavered from its path, "It's understandable that you should have that kind of reaction. I wish Bella had been as smart."

He, of course, was referring to how I didn't like that my father wanted my blood. I was truly beginning to hate his mind reading. Edward grinned in response to that thought.

"I really don't like you right now," I was picturing how nice Edward would look with a black eye.

Edward laughed, "You'll have to convince Jasper or Emmett to even punch for you, but I still wouldn't get a black eye, no blood."

"Really?" I questioned.

He nodded, "Yes, not unless we've just had animal blood."

"Anything else I should know?"

"You should probably start sleeping with one eye open since we have no need for sleep," Edward said slyly, "And we have no need to breath…didn't you look all of this up last night?"

"Yes," I admitted. "But you really don't need to sleep?"

"No. Why do you think your room is closest to Carlisle's office?" Edward questioned. "If you ever had a nightmare anywhere from when you went to sleep to around midnight, Carlisle would be in his office, just in case."

Now I was beginning to feel kind of bad for pulling away from Carlisle earlier this morning. But then it was gone.

Edward gave me a look I couldn't identify, so I asked, "What?"

He sighed as if explaining things to me was a waste of his time, "Carlisle has never wanted to harm you. Yes, you're blood smells great to him, but he would never hurt you. He loves you."

I remembered my father's parting words, and how I had slammed the door in his face. Edward gave me a stern gaze, "Yes, he was thinking about that before he left."

"Left?" I half shouted, "Where did he go?"

"To Volterra," Edward answered, "to let the Voltouri know that you now know about us…if things go badly there, he may not return."

My heart pounded. My father never returning? I may not be happy with him right now, but I didn't want him to be killed! I gaze at Edward anxiously.

He tried to sooth me, "The Voltouri most likely won't kill him because it was already arranged that you would be made a vampire no later then the age of eighteen."

A sigh of relief escaped me and Edward stared at me as if I was nuts. Yes. I wanted to be a vampire like the rest of my family, that way… I didn't want to think anymore since Edward had parked the car in the garage and was still staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

Edward put one hand to his forehead, "And here I thought you were more normal then Bella. What was I thinking?"

I shoved roughly against his shoulder and he didn't even budge, "Can't you at least act like I did something?"

Edward smiled, "No, not if I don't have to… Aren't you worried about Carlisle at all?"

"Yes," I admitted. "I think we need to talk to be honest."

He nodded, "That would probably be a good idea."

"When will he get back?" I questioned.

"Friday," he answered before stepping out of the car.

When Friday came I almost leapt out of my seat before the bell rang, luckily I didn't. Esme had reassured me that Carlisle would be home by the time one of my siblings picked me up (Hiro was sick that day).

Poor Hiro would have been ecstatic to see the yellow 911 Porsche Turbo, but alas, he would never know that he missed the chance since I wasn't going to tell him.

Alice smiled as I hopped into the front seat, "Hi! Carlisle got home around noon, so you can talk to him any time!"

I gave her a sly look, "But when am I going to talk to him."

Alice rolled her eyes, "I'm not looking for that. Besides, no one has told Carlisle that you want to talk to him, just like you asked."

I swallowed nervously, part of me wished that I had not requested that, but it was too late now.

We got home far too quickly for my liking. I noticed Alice seemed to like driving faster then Edward in town, especially since the speedometer showed, when I glanced at it, that we were traveling at one hundred and ten miles per hour.

I jumped out of the car and walked towards the house. Upon entering I my eyes automatically went to Carlisle, but instead of hugging him like I usually would have, and I should have then, I just couldn't. I needed things explained first before things went back to the way they had been.

Dinner went well, considering that I was eating by myself again. After dinner and after my homework had been done, I lay on my bed, trying to contemplate how to approach my father on the subjects that I wanted to talk about. Plus, I had to work up the nerve to speak to him.

To waste time, I grabbed a photo album and began to flip through it. That was when I noticed, right in the first photograph, of me as a baby, how far Carlisle held me away from his body. But as I continued to flip through the album, the distance shortened until it looked like any other family album, no distance between any of the family members.

I sighed. I was putting a distance between myself and Carlisle now, and I didn't like it. Summoning up what little courage I had, I walked to Carlisle's office and knocked on the door.

He sounded surprised as he said, "Enter."

I felt really stupid going into his office. Here was a vampire that yearned for my blood, and I was now in an enclosed room with him.

Carlisle looked uneasy as he asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Dad…I want to talk about some things," I said.

He visibly relaxed, "Then let's talk."

I was beginning to wonder if this had been such a great idea. Sure, my father was showing no signs that he'd like to drink my blood, but still. I was in an enclosed room with him where my scent would be that much stronger.

**I'm putting this chapter up early since I won't be on much this weekend to put it up on Sunday.**


	6. Chapter 5: Carlisle's Story

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I could tell Carlisle was waiting for me to say something, so I asked, "Is it…difficult for you to be near me?"

"Not anymore," Carlisle answered, "when I first brought you home…I must admit, it was difficult, you're scent is like…" He trailed off.

"What?" I questioned.

"Well…Edward, when Bella was human, compared her scent to a drug, or an alcohol, to show how addicting her scent was…I'm trying to think of a different comparison." I waited patiently, a small smile crossing my features. The way he was acting made it seem like nothing had changed and that I had never found out that I was living with a coven of vampires. Finally, he said, "It's like you with pizza."

That explained it right away. I'm a pizza addict! "So, my blood is to you what pizza is to me?" I wanted to be sure I had it right.

"Yes," he smiled slightly, most likely because I wasn't running from him in terror at having my blood compared to food.

He then frowned, "I'm glad that you're not terrified of me anymore, but in some ways I wish that you were afraid, it would…reassure me a bit."

"Dad, I'm not following," I admitted. I had no idea what he was talking about.

Carlisle smiled at my confusion, "You've never been afraid of what we are, not even when you were a baby."

"I was afraid when I first found out," I reminded him.

"That's true," he laughed softly, "but you have no aversion to our kind."

"Should I?" I questioned, "I mean, it seems like a lot of the stuff I read on the internet was false, apart from the one about good vampires."

Carlisle's gaze became serious, "We…vampires, are the deadliest predators imaginable. Our scent draws our prey to us, surely you've noticed that?"

I nodded. He was right, I had noticed there scents. Each of my family had their own unique scent, but all of them smelled pleasant.

"The only thing that detours our natural prey is our cold skin…but you never seem to notice it," he shook his head in bewilderment.

That was also true. To me, all of my family's skin felt pleasant to me…except during the winter, then it was WAY too cold!

"A vampire's venom also immobilizes our prey, making it easier to feed," he continued, "not that we need any of that." Carlisle rose out of his chair, "You wouldn't be able to overpower a vampire." He easily lifted his desk with one hand. This was no small feat; considering his desk had many medical books in it and several other heavy objects. He set it down again, and glanced at me, "You wouldn't be able to outrun me either."

Those words set a chill down my spine. My mind whirled desperately, _why did he change his sentence structure from "vampire" to "me"._ His eyes locked with mine, they were black. _I'm so dead!_

I blinked, and felt my body fly backwards on its own, a cold weight on my left shoulder. When the motion stopped, I was pinned against the wall, several picture frames digging into my back. I was close to hyperventilating; I could feel Carlisle's teeth pressed against my throat.

Moving slowly, Carlisle pulled away, and released my shoulder, "Seeing if I could get a reaction out of you…" He shook his head back and forth, "I would have preferred it if you had screamed."

I said slowly, my heart still trying to find its natural pace again, "You weren't going to hurt me."

"That's right, but I still wish you had a, for lack of a better word, normal reaction," he said.

Though my heart was still slowing down to its normal pace, I walked over to him and hugged him. He had suddenly put everything into perspective when he pulled away from my throat instead of drinking my blood when he was obviously hungry. That brought another question to mind, "When your eyes get darker does that mean you're hungry?"

"You're very observant," he commented before answering my question, "Yes. When our eyes get darker it means we're hungry, but we don't hunt humans, we hunt animals. We consider ourselves vegetarians."

I snorted, trying to retain my laughter as Carlisle laughed softly. It was a funny kind of way to look at things.

He picked me up, and walked over to his chair, sitting down. He kissed my forehead and asked, "Is there anything else that you want to talk about?"

I kissed his cheek, my anger from several days ago gone, now it seemed like things were back to normal…at least as normal as they could get when living with vampires.

I thought of a question after several minutes, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three," he answered right away, "Though I'm pretending to be thirty-eight going on thirty-nine."

"That's not what I meant, Dad," I chastened.

"I know," he sighed, "I'm three hundred and seventy-eight, soon to be three hundred and seventy-nine."

To say the least, I was flabbergasted. My father, Carlisle, was nearly three hundred and eighty years old!

Carlisle chuckled, "Didn't you wonder how the cross out in the hallway was older then I was?"

"No, can't say it did," I answered truthfully.

"My father carved that cross," he said, smiling.

Now that my shock had worn off from finding out that my father was three hundred and seventy-eight years old, I asked, "How did you become a vampire, Dad?"

"My history is on that wall," he gestured to the door.

It's amazing that I had somehow missed seeing that the walls near the door were plastered with paintings, all of various sizes, colors, and themes.

His gaze seemed to be seeing something that only his eyes could see, "I was born in London sometime around the sixteen-forties, time wasn't something we kept track of. A day was just another day. I know that it was before Cromwell's rule though."

I listened intently. I felt like a little kid being told a bedtime story. Which I somewhat was, it was close to when I would usually go to sleep.

"My father was an Anglican pastor, while my mother died giving birth to me. My father was an intolerant man. He was very enthusiastic in persecuting the other religions when Protestants came to power. He also believed in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witches, werewolves…and vampires."

I watched his expression, expecting to see some sort of anger towards his father, but there was none; making me feel ashamed of hating him for those few days.

His gaze still was focused on something only he could see, "Many innocents were burned at the stake; none of them were the real thing. The creatures he sought would not be caught so easily.

"When he was too old to lead the hunts, he placed me in charge of them. I was obedient and did as he said, but I was not quick to accuse, to see demons where they did not exist; my father thought I was a disappointment.

"I did discover a coven of real vampires though. They had been living in the sewers of the city and only coming out at night to hunt. Many 'monsters' lived that way back then.

"The people gathered their pitchforks and torches and waited where I had seen the monsters exit into the street…eventually one of them did emerge."

His voice had become soft and quiet; I could barely hear him, I had a feeling that this was something that he did not like to talk about.

He did continue to speak though, "The vampire must have been ancient, and weak with hunger. I heard him call out a warning in Latin to the others when he caught the scent of the mob I was leading. He ran through the streets and I, the youngest and fastest of the group, was in the lead of the pursuit. The creature could have easily outrun us, I know that now, but he must have been very hungry. The vampire turned and attacked, falling on me first. The others of the mob came near and the vampire turned to defend himself. He killed two men and made off with a third, leaving me, bleeding, in the street." Carlisle paused and looked at me, seeming to be measuring how I was taking all of this before he continued, "It was very painful, I felt as if my body was on fire, but I knew what my father would do. The bodies would be destroyed, burned, along with me. Anything infected by the monster would be destroyed, that was his philosophy, and he would not hesitate for me.

"I acted on instinct. I managed to crawl away from the alley while the mob followed the vampire and his victim. I managed to find a cellar and I buried myself in the rotting potatoes for three days."

I couldn't help interrupting, "If you were in such pain…how did you stay hidden? Didn't you cry out in pain?"

He turned his gaze on me, "I wanted to stay alive, at the time. To scream would have meant certain death, so I stayed quiet."

"What do you mean by you wanted to stay alive at the time?" I questioned.

"I'm getting there," Carlisle said with a small smile. "When the burning finally stopped, I realized what I had become. I was no longer human, but a creature that needed human blood to survive. I was a vampire…a monster."

I was about to interrupt my father. I didn't think of him as a monster, even when I had been angry with him. I had simply not liked the thought of him keeping the fact that he wanted her blood a secret.

Carlisle picked me up and walked over to the wall and pointed at a picture, this was a simple picture, a small square of oil painting in a plain frame. It didn't exactly stand out, but it was painted in varying tones of sepia; it depicted a miniature city full of steeply slanted roofs, with thin spires atop a few scattered towers. A wide river filled the foreground, crossed by a bridge covered with structures that looked like tiny cathedrals.

"This is London in the sixteen-fifties, the London of my youth," he smiled slightly.

I didn't press him to continue the story, even though that's what I wanted to do. I figured there was a reason he had paused in the middle of his story.

He pointed to another painting; this was a large landscape in dull fall colors—an empty, shadowed meadow in a forest, with a craggy peak in the distance. "When I realized what I had become, I tried to destroy myself. But I soon learned that that was easier said then done. I jumped from great heights, I tried to drown myself, I tried many things to no avail. All the while, my throat burned, I was beginning to feel starved for blood, but I figured I would be able to starve myself at the very least, at least I would be destroyed then. I did not count on how powerful the instinct could be to get blood though.

"I was very weak and I was as far away from any humans as I could get. I loathed myself, but I was not about to put others in danger.

"One night, a herd of deer passed where I was hiding. I didn't even know what I was doing, but I attacked the deer without a second thought and quenched my thirst. That was when I realized that I didn't have to be a monster, I could still be, to some degree, human. I had eaten animals in my past life, so I didn't see why I couldn't do it in my new life. I began to have some hope again.

"I decided not to waste any of the time I now had, even if it was unlimited. I studied by night and planned by day. I swam to France and –"

I interrupted him, "You swam to France?"

"People do it all the time," Carlisle said smiling slightly.

I grumbled, "Probably not underwater the whole time."

He blinked in surprise and said, "That's true. But continuing."

I snuggled closer to him as he gestured to another painting. It was very elaborate and by far the largest. The canvas overflowed with bright figures in swirling robes, writhing around long pillars and off marbled balconies, I recognized a figure in a sedate corner and asked softly, "Is that you?"

"Yes, Solimena enjoyed painting myself and my friends, but we're not there yet in the story," Carlisle said.

"I'll be quiet," I murmured.

He smiled, "I swam to France and continued on through Europe, to the universities there. By night I studied music, science, medicine – and that's where I found my calling, my redemption, in saving human lives. It took me two centuries to fully master control over my desire to drink human blood, now I'm all but immune…you're the exception though. If I'm away from you for longer then a day, you're scent hits me as if I was a newborn vampire again, but I quickly adjust."

This surprised me. My father was immune to all human blood but mine…life's not fair.

He didn't notice the scowl that had appeared on my face as he continued, "I was studying in Italy when I discovered a more civilized and educated coven of vampires. It was a stark contrast to the ones back in the London sewers." He pointed to the three vampires in the painting next to him, "Aro, Marcus, and Caius, they were the nighttime patrons of the arts. They never left Italy either, they were there even before I arrived and they remained there for many millennia. I stayed with them for only a short period of time, just a few decades. I admired their civility and their refinement, but they tried to cure me of my aversion to 'my natural food source' as they told me. We tried back and forth to convince the other to change their ways, but to no avail. I decided to try the New World then, hoping to find others like myself…I was very lonely in my new life.

"I didn't find anyone but as the tales of vampires and werewolves fell away into the distance I found that I could interact with humans as if I were one again. That's where my medicine practice began. But the companionship I sought evaded me and I couldn't risk familiarity, not when I didn't age and others did."

I kept silent even though I wanted to ask him why he remained in Forks then when he was obviously not aging.

He seemed to sense my question, "We've remained in Forks for so long because it is the easiest place for us to interact with you without taking you to Alaska."

I had to admit he was right. I could not picture myself in Alaska.

"There was an influenza epidemic that hit Chicago and I was working the hospitals at night. I had been turning over an idea for some time about creating a companion since I could not find one, but I was hesitant. I did not want to steal someone's life as mine had been stolen. With that frame of mind I found Edward and his mother. His mother was very persistent that I save her son by any means necessary. She seemed to know that I was not human and that she would not make it through the epidemic. She was right. Edward was dying and no one would notice if I wheeled away both of them. I first wheeled away his mother and then I came back for him. Once we were in the morgue I took him to where I was staying, and I decided to try and make myself a companion…I tried to duplicate my wounds but I regret doing that now since it was unnecessary… After that I found Esme who had fallen from a cliff and I changed her…" he smiled as he trailed off but he began again, "I never thought I would find someone who I would want to have constantly by my side… Then I changed Rosalie after I found her dying in the streets. She then brought Emmett to me and I changed him. Bella came many years later and since she had fallen in love with Edward she bore him a child, Renesmee, before she was changed by him into a vampire and - "

I interrupted, "Wait, wait, wait! Aunt Renesmee is really my niece?"

"Yes, but since she is older then you, it was easier to say that she was your Aunt," Carlisle said.

My head was beginning to hurt, "So how did Jacob end up in all of this?"

Carlisle looked nervous then, "Jacob is a shape-shifter, but all of the Quileutes that can transform choose to transform into wolves. So they consider themselves to be werewolves." He paused to see my reaction, my head was really hurting now, but I kept quiet. "The werewolves imprint on people, it's like true love at first sight, and that's what Jacob did with Renesmee when she was born, and since she aged quickly, being half human and half vampire, she was an adult within a two year span of life, but that was enough for Jacob, they've been together ever since. And now we're full circle. I don't really believe you want to hear how we brought you into our family."

"No…but Dad?" He turned to look at me as I asked, "When I'm eighteen…will you really turn me into a vampire."

"If that's what you want, then yes. If not…we'll find a way to keep you hidden from the Voltouri," he answered his gaze fatherly as he looked at me.

"If I asked to be changed now…would you do it?" I questioned.

"No. You are still very young. You're only going to be fifteen, even Alice is older then that," he answered.

I squirmed out of his arms, and he gently set me on the ground before I could do anything to harm myself. I said as I walked to the door, "Thanks for talking with me, Dad."

"Anytime…are you going to bed?" He questioned

I smiled, "I thought I'd go torment Edward first."

He smiled, "All right, just don't torment him too much."

"Sure!" I said happily as I bounded down the stairs and ran right into Edward. Now my head really hurt!

Edward placed a hand on my shoulder so I wouldn't fall over, "If you really want to torment me you're going to have to follow me to my room."

That was okay by me, so I followed him to his room. Edward walked over to his CD player had hit the play button, before he sat down on his couch and I joined him there. He said as I sat down, pointing at the CD player, "That's music."

I rolled my eyes at him. I liked the kind of music he listened to, I just like my kind of music better.

We sat there in silence listening to the music as song after song played. Edward broke the silence, "I thought you were going to torment me."

"I changed my mind," I answered

His gaze stayed on me for several seconds before he sighed, pulling me into his lap, "You just want to spend some time with your older brother, huh?"

"Yeah," my eyes were beginning to droop.

Edward's gaze stayed on me, "All right, you can stay for the night."

I blinked gratefully at him as I closed my eyes. I needed to feel like barely anything had changed. I needed to be reassured that we were indeed a family, even if I was the only human in the bunch. My eyes closed as sleep overcame me.


	7. Chapter 6: Baseball

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

The bad thing about ever spending the night in one of my brother's rooms had to be the rude awakenings I always seemed to get…unless it was Jasper, who always took the greatest care not to wake me.

Edward's truce with me of not to torment the other, apparently ended come first light.

I sat bolt upright on the couch in Edward's room, my clothes drenched. Edward had his usual crooked grin on his face, a bucket in his hands. He was truly evil some days. I stood up deliberately, Edward was still smiling, until I wrung out my soaked shirt onto his lush, gold carpet.

He growled slightly as he spoke, "That wasn't nice at all!"

"Neither is waking up your sister with a bucket of water!" I said before scooting out the door.

I heard Edward call after me, "You have ten seconds to find someone to hide behind!"

I dashed down the stairs and looked around to see who was home on a sunny Saturday morning. I hid behind the first person I spotted, Jasper.

Jasper asked, "What are you doing?"

"Seeking protection from Edward," I answered somewhat truthfully.

"What did you do this time?" He questioned.

I tried to defend myself, "He started it! He threw a bucket of water on me! And then I wrung my shirt out on his carpet."

Jasper tried to hide his smile, "I guess I'll help…you might not necessarily like how I help though."

Now, Jasper is usually the nice brother, he rarely picks on me, and he always knows what to do to make me feel better. There are only rare occasions where he seems to think that I need to be reminded that he is still one of my brothers…I had a bad feeling that this would be one of those times.

Edward came down the stairs, each step deliberate; I could easily imagine him contemplating how best to get at me around Jasper. He smiled, confirming my thoughts.

Suddenly, Jasper stepped out of Edward's way and I looked at him, panicking, I thought he said he would help me! As Edward reached the last stair, I suddenly felt like giving him a hug, apparently, he felt the same because he hugged me…this was not our own doing.

"Jazz," I whined, having this loving feeling wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I asked him to help me.

Jasper just grinned, "I told you that you probably wouldn't like it."

"This is ridiculous," Edward muttered, pulling away. "Knock that off! I won't hurt her, you know that!"

"I know," Jasper answered stilling grinning, "I just like helping out my little sister every now and then."

Edward ruffled my hair as he walked past, not an apology, but close enough…for him anyway.

"Sorry about that, but I did warn you," Jasper said, ruffling my hair as he followed Edward. What was it with people and my hair? It's always being ruffled, rumbled, or messed up.

Bella walked out of the dining room and took in my wet clothes, "Edward woke you up with a bucket of water, didn't he?"

"Yeah," I answered.

She winked at me, "I'll make him pay for it later."

Yep, Bella is definitely my favorite sister! As she made her way to the front door, I asked, "Why's everybody heading out there?"

"We're getting ready to go camping," a voice said behind me.

I jumped, and then spun around to see Alice perched on the railing leading up the stairs. "Carlisle said that he would wake you at ten, but I already told him Edward would wake you up earlier then that."

I rolled my eyes, one of the many annoying things about Alice, she could see the future and yet she refused to stop it if it was something trivial that could be stopped. Something catastrophic happens and she tries to stop it… Couldn't she at least try to stop both?

Alice moved towards Bella with her dancer like step and said over her shoulder, "Oh, by the way, you may want to call Hiro, he's better and he will call soon if you don't."

"Why would Hiro call?" I wondered aloud, not expecting anyone to answer as I made my way to the phone. Carlisle intercepted me.

Carlisle took one look at my wet clothes and said, "Go upstairs, shower, change and then start packing, whoever you were going to call can wait."

"But-!" I tried to argue.

Carlisle gave me a stern look, "I don't want you to get a chill, now go change out of those clothes and shower."

I reluctantly went up the stairs, grabbed a change of clothes and went into the bathroom to shower.

Several minutes later, as I came down the stairs carrying my hiking boots, I heard Carlisle say from the dining room, "Yes, next time you may come along…bye." I walked in just as he hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" I asked as I sat down in one of the chairs to get my boots on.

"Hiro," he answered, "He wanted to go camping with us today, but I told him he'd have to wait till next time. We don't want him sick again."

That was true enough, but I had to ask, "It's because the sun is out, isn't it?"

He nodded, "Plus, we're going to be doing some hunting out of state. Emmett hasn't had bear in awhile."

I stared at him flabbergasted, "Wait! You mean you hunt other carnivores?"

"Bears are omnivores," he stated. Before I could say anything he said, "Carnivores taste better to us then herbivores. Bears just happen to be Emmet's favorite."

"What's the usual favorite?" I questioned.

He sighed, "Most of us like cougars, and wolves, but since we've become friends with the Quileutes wolf has not been one of our choices anymore, especially not around here."

I had to ask, "Why can't you hunt around here?"

"We can hunt around here as long as we are not on the Quileutes' reservation," Carlisle answered. "It was an agreement that we made with them when we first settled here when it was just Edward, Rosalie, Esme, and myself."

_That long ago…_ I thought before a different thought struck me, "Are we walking the whole way?"

Edward walked in just then, "No, we're running."

I stared at him dumbfounded. Turning to Carlisle I said, "I can't run that far or as fast as you."

Carlisle said, "We're aware of that, Emmett will carry you there…unless you prefer to stay here?"

I weighed the options; on one side there was camping with my family which meant no lessons from the Bible come Sunday, then there was staying home alone… Camping won out.

"I'll go!" I said, standing up, now that I had both boots on. "I just have to pack!"

Esme came out of the kitchen then, "I already packed for you while you were asleep. You're pack is sitting outside."

"Thanks, Mom," I said.

Carlisle said, "Let's get outside then." We all followed him outside.

Once outside, I easily spotted my navy blue pack, I noticed that Esme had even remembered to place a water bottle, filled with Glacier Blue Gatorade in my pack. A hand resting on my shoulder made me spin around and I was nearly blinded.

Emmett was grinning from ear to ear, his skin shimmering like he had tiny diamonds trapped in his skin, "I'll be carrying you the whole way, so I hope you're ready."

I nodded, if Carlisle hadn't warned me earlier I would have been more terrified. Emmett was known to be a prankster. But the sparkling skin was weird. I questioned, "You sparkle?"

"This is why we don't go out in the sunlight, why do you think it was so hard to keep you from knowing that we weren't human?" He answered.

I thought of all those mornings that I had come down the stairs to find my family wearing long sleeved shirts, gloves, long pants, and ski masks.

Carlisle glanced around, making sure we were all there before he asked, "Everybody ready?" Everyone nodded. "Then let's go."

Emmett extended his hand towards me, and I asked as I took it, "Where exactly are we going?"

He easily swung me onto his back, "Canada, there's a place with an over populace of grizzlies. Now hang on!" He took off like a shot, and I gripped his neck as tightly as possible, my legs gripping the sides of his pack. My eyes were tearing up with how fast we were going, fast blurs ahead told me that the rest of my family was going faster then us. I assumed that Emmett, though powerful, was not exactly fast in vampire terms of speed. But he was still fast! Trees whizzed past, inches from hitting either of us. I was beginning to feel a little queasy, which was odd for me, but I quickly closed my eyes, no need to throw up on my first camping trip with my family, where I was aware of what they were. Emmett's gait was smooth, so the only thing that told me how fast we were going was the wind whistling past.

So I didn't really notice when Emmett stopped until he said, "Hey! Did you fall asleep? Not that that would surprise me, you've always been odd for a human."

"I'm awake!" I snapped, "I just didn't realize that you had stopped."

"Well, you can let go now," he said.

I loosened my hold slowly, and ended up falling on my butt, my legs felt like gelatin. Emmett laughed as he offered to help me up, I smacked his hand…big mistake.

"Ouch!" I yelped in pain, my hand now throbbing. Carlisle was at my side in an instant along with Rosalie and Esme.

"Let me take a look," Carlisle said softly, taking my hand. He touched my palm and I whimpered as a shooting pain shot up my arm. "This is going to hurt," Carlisle said as he tried to bend my hand, I screamed, it really hurt!

Rosalie glared at Emmett and snarled, "She broke her hand because of you!"

"How was I supposed to know that she was going to do that? I was only laughing!" Emmett said. He turned to me, "I'm sorry you hurt your hand, but I didn't think you'd do that."

I glared at him as Carlisle made a makeshift splint for my hand, "This will have to do until we get back," he said, depending on how you feel, we may have to cut our trip short.

"I feel fine right now, apart from the pain," I said truthfully.

He rummaged in his pack for a few seconds before he pulled out a bottle of painkillers, "This will ease the pain, but it'll also make you drowsy." He handed me a pill.

"Thanks," I said, not really caring how tired I would be, sleep suddenly sounded great.

Esme touched my shoulder gently and said, "We'll pitch the tents first before we go to hunt."

"I'll stay until someone comes back," Emmett said, sounding guilty, "to keep an eye on her."

Rosalie beamed at him while Carlisle said, "That's very thoughtful Emmett, and a good idea." He stood up and said to Rosalie and Esme, "Let's get those tents pitched.

Alice walked over and said, "Already done! We can go and hunt now."

Carlisle nodded and said as Rosalie and Esme followed Alice, "I'll catch up." He turned towards me and asked, his voice giving away his anxiety, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," I answered. "I'll probably sleep for most of the day anyway." He nodded before he took off into the trees where the others had disappeared.

Emmett moved towards the tent and I followed on unsteady legs, grateful when I finally crawled into the tent. I thought that I would sit up for a bit to let the medicine work, but as soon as I hit my sleeping bag I was fast asleep.

At first, when I woke up, I didn't know where I was until I felt the nylon material of my sleeping bag. I sat up, and was surprised to find that I was actually in the sleeping bag. Searching my mind, I couldn't remember crawling into the sleeping bag, just lying on top of it. I looked around the tent and saw Jasper sitting in the corner.

"How long was I out?" I questioned.

Jasper answered, "Most of the day, it's close to dinnertime for you."

I nodded, I was about to say something when a crash of thunder sounded above us, and Alice poked her head into the tent, "It's starting and it's definitely not going to rain! We can play baseball!" Jasper nodded and then looked pointedly at me. Alice rolled her eyes, "She'll be coming with, that's what I saw at least."

Carlisle said, just outside the tent, "We'll see how she's doing before you make any decisions, Alice." His tone was supposed to be scolding, but I could tell he really didn't mean it that way.

Alice backed with Jasper following close behind, once they were out of the tent, Carlisle crawled in and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Better, my hand doesn't hurt as much," I moved my hand a bit to test this theory. It gave a little throb, but nothing major.

Carlisle said, "I thought it might be a sprain, but when we get back I still want to have that hand x-rayed to be safe."

"Why did you let Rosalie think it was a break?" I questioned.

He answered, "It still might be." Standing up he asked, "Would you like to watch us play some baseball?"

I nodded eagerly, I had always felt left out when they had played ball on previous camping trips and now I could at least watch! Carlisle crawled out of the tent and I followed with my lopsided crawl, since I couldn't put as much weight on one hand as the other.

Once outside the tent, Carlisle swung me onto his back and said, "Hang on." Before he took off after Alice and Jasper, who had started running only a second before Carlisle everyone else quickly followed.

Alice led everyone to a large meadow and said, "Emmett, could you make some bases out of that boulder over there?"

I was about to ask about the bats, when Edward swung a long pack off his back, the clanking of bats hitting one another, showing that they had planned ahead.

Carlisle helped me down and stood beside me while I found my balance again, before he walked me over to stand beside Esme, "Your mother likes to referee our games, so you'll stay near her."

Esme smiled at Carlisle and said once he was a few paces away, "I like to referee because they like to cheat. Someone has to keep them honest."

"What's with the thunderstorm though?" I questioned.

Esme smiled, "You'll see." She moved a few stray hairs out of my eyes, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I feel fine!" I answered.

She smiled, "A mother's worry I guess." Her gaze turned to the field, "That was a fast warm up, but then again, none of them have played in awhile."

The teams were split like this, team one was Carlisle, Jasper, Alice, and Edward, and team two was Bella, Rosalie, and Emmett.

Esme explained, "Jasper will play for the other team next time around, he likes playing the field."

Rosalie was up to bat, Alice stood poised on the pitcher's mound she had made only moments before. Within the blink of an eye she pitched, and Rosalie bunted the ball towards third while she sailed toward first. Edward dove after the ball, easily intercepting it and throwing it to Carlisle who tagged, Rosalie.

Bella was up to bat next and was out by the same play they had used to get Rosalie out. When Emmett was up to bat, he struck the ball with such force that it made a sound like thunder and the ball went flying out of sight, Edward dashing after it.

"Home run?" I guessed.

Esme held up one finger while she listened intently before saying, "Out." I was confused. She explained, "Emmett hits the hardest, but Edward runs the fastest."

Alice remained the pitcher, so Jasper moved with Carlisle and Edward towards home plate.

Carlisle was up to bat first, and he sent the ball flying with a loud crash. As he made his way to third, Jasper shot towards him. When they collided it sounded like a thunderclap had occurred within the clearing. I was really beginning to see the need for a storm.

Once they game was over, Carlisle's team winning, I was certain of one thing, other baseball games were going to appear mighty boring after what I had just witnessed.


	8. Chapter 7: Unexpected

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

The camping trip went far too fast for my liking, the plus side being that my hand was indeed sprained and not broken. I would have to wear a hand guard for several days, but I wasn't complaining.

Monday morning rolled around, and a cold, yet gentle hand shook my shoulder, "Wake up sleepy head, time to get up and get ready for school."

I sat up, and looked around, to see Esme walking out of my room, pulling the door closed behind her. Not even a second later, Alice stood, blocking my doorway, apparently she was determined to help me pick my wardrobe today.

As if in answer to my thoughts, "I'm going to help you pick out your clothes today and you're not leaving this room until you're wearing a designer shirt and pants." I moaned in response.

My moan seemed to summon my father, who had somehow managed to get around Alice and to my bedside in the blink of an eye. He asked, "Is your hand bothering you?"

"No," I answered, "Alice is though."

Carlisle said, "Alice, why don't you wait until she doesn't have a hand guard on?"

Alice sulked, but she left the room saying over her shoulder, "Two more days!"

I moaned again, sometimes her future seeing could be frustrating. Carlisle smiled as Alice left, "I can't stop her forever, but I have prolonged her from going overboard." He stood up and said, "Get a move on before she changes her mind, your mother will have breakfast ready in a few minutes."

Purposely grabbing a worn pair of jeans and a grubby looking T-shirt, just to annoy Alice, I darted into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and made my way downstairs. Alice shot me an incredulous look, which soon turned to one of annoyance before I made it into the dining room.

Esme took one look at my clothes and said, "You'd do better to not annoy Alice too much, or else you might end up wearing all pink."

I gazed at her in alarm, "Don't give her any ideas!"

Edward walked into the dining room, "Too late for that. As soon as Alice saw what you were wearing, she automatically pictured you in pink."

I shuddered as I began to eat my pancakes, in two days time I would be laughed at for four straight periods before kids finally stopped. Edward chuckled, and I shot his back a glare.

Carlisle said, "Now, now, let's not start anything this morning."

I sighed; sometimes Carlisle seemed to be a better mind reader then Edward. I picked up my plate and took it into the kitchen, rinsing it off before placing it in the sink.

My dad called from the living room, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," I called back, reluctantly as I picked up my backpack and made my way into the living room. Carlisle smiled before he walked out to the garage, I was about to follow when Rosalie grabbed my arm.

"What?" I asked, turning to face her.

She smiled, "You're going to want this." I let her help me into a jacket, even though I was perfectly capable of doing that without her.

Now that I had a jacket on, I made my way towards the garage, getting pelted with rain on the way there.

Carlisle nodded in approval as I hopped into the passenger seat, "I was hoping you would remember a jacket."

"Rose reminded me," I admitted sheepishly.

"Either way, I'm glad. This rain is certainly coming down," he started up the car and eased out of the driveway, I watched the speedometer rise steadily as he drove towards town.

"Dad," I asked, "why do you always drive me so fast to school…or anywhere?"

"We have a tendency to like fast things," Carlisle said smiling, "and I thought you liked getting to school early so you could read for a bit."

"True," I admitted, "But still, do you really need to drive so fast? What if a cop saw us?"

Carlisle smiled, "They wouldn't see us."

I glanced at the speedometer and wished I hadn't. I must have turned a unique shade of white, because the car slowed visibly.

He asked, concerned, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," I said, hoping the color was returning to my face, "It just surprised me to see how fast the car was going."

"I miss it when you never used to look at the speedometer," Carlisle said, a small smile still on his face.

I couldn't help smiling with him, "Trust me, I won't look at it again anytime soon." We made it to the school in a few minutes.

I sat in Biology, reading for the third or fourth time, _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ as the other students walked in, or in Hiro's case, tripped in.

As Hiro fell into his seat next to me he said, "Hey! How have you been? Did the camping trip go well? What happened to your hand?"

"Good. Yes. Tripped," I answered, absorbed in my book. I had just gotten to the part with the Time Turner, and I really didn't want to be interrupted.

Hiro asked, "Time Turner part?"

I nodded and continued to read, engrossed in the book until Mr. Banner started class and I reluctantly closed my book.

To be honest, the first four periods flew by, with me snatching looks into my book whenever the teachers weren't looking.

At lunch, Hiro asked, "When do you think you'll be going camping again?"

"I'm not sure," I murmured around my mouthful of turkey club wrap. "Probably not for awhile now." Hiro moaned in response to that. "Relax; my dad will call you long before we actually go." I added silently to myself, _and they better not be hunting either!_

After lunch, the last four periods of the day flew by, especially English, where we got to read whatever we wanted for the whole time, by the end of which I was into _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire._ The bell rang all too soon for me, as I closed the book and headed to my locker.

Hiro was waiting there for me and he grumbled, "Rain again! And it's pouring no less!"

"Just don't slip under the car," I commented, "Some of my siblings wouldn't have any second thoughts about running you over." Hiro froze mid-step, "Kidding!" I said quickly, smiling at him.

Hiro moaned as he watched a silver Volvo pull up to the walk in front of the school. He muttered darkly, "Why couldn't it be the Turbo?"

I kept quiet as I slipped into the seat next to Hiro. Edward asked, "How did things go today?"

"Good," I answered, I knew he hated one-word answers.

He glared at me in the rearview mirror before he asked Hiro, "And how was your day?"

"Fine," Hiro answered, stunned. Edward rarely talked to him.

"That's good," Edward commented, frustrated that Hiro and I had answered with one word each, meaning that he couldn't comment on anything about their day.

The trip to Hiro's house was quick, but for once, Hiro didn't comment. There was a truck in his driveway, and he seemed eager to get inside his house. He called over his shoulder, "See ya!" Before he dashed towards his house.

As I slipped into the front seat, Edward said, "Hiro has a friend in La Push, I guess that car belongs to his friend's father."

If Edward thought that would annoy me, it didn't. Hiro could have all the friends he wanted, as could I. I wouldn't be goaded into an argument with Edward.

Now that Hiro was out of the car, Edward seemed to be on a roll, "Carlisle and Esme wouldn't like hearing that you were not paying attention in class."

"You wouldn't tell them," I said, but I asked a few seconds later, "Would you?"

He laughed, "No, but just keep that in mind the next time you try and pull a prank."

"Like it would work," I mutter darkly. Edward frowned at that. I ignored the frown, I had managed to pull a few pranks on him, all of which I had really wanted to pull without him knowing…now that I thought about it…it was kind of weird that those pranks had taken him completely by surprise. I shoved the thought aside. Edward had probably just acted surprised to make his act of being human more realistic.

As we pulled into the driveway, Edward tensed, a low hiss escaping his lips, "Damn! When did they…?"

"What?" I asked concerned, looking around, "They who?"

Edward pulled into the garage and said softly, "The Voltouri."

He stepped out of the car while I stayed rooted to my seat. What could the Voltouri be doing here? Didn't Carlisle tell them that I knew or had things changed…?

Edward opened my door, and I quickly unbuckled my seat belt and stepped out of the car. I wasn't sure what to do, if I should go into the house or just stay in the garage where it felt safest. Edward made the decision for me. Picking me up as if I barely weighed more then a loaf of bread he carried me into the house.

Four vampires stood in the room, three of them were men, two of them had blond hair while one had black hair. The last vampire was short, even shorter then I was, her pale hair and complexion did nothing though to ease the frantic beating of my heart. The girl turned to face me and grinned. A hiss sounded from one of my siblings, a quick glance showed me it was Bella.

As Edward moved towards the rest of our family, the black haired vampire said, "Ah! So this is the human you told us about, Carlisle!"

Edward set me down in between Carlisle and Esme, and automatically, their arms encircled me. Carlisle said, his voice sounding on the brink of rage, "Yes, this is Sara, Aro."

Aro stared at me in fascination, "It's amazing how she doesn't flinch from your cold skin!" He made to move forward, but Emmett and Jasper hissed in warning, their teeth bared. This brought a response from the small vampire, who hissed in return.

"Peace, dear one," Aro said, touching the small vampire's head, "We must take things slowly, Jane, dear. Our last visit was not a pleasant one, and I know that it will take time to get back the trust we once had from the Cullens."

No one moved except me. I glanced around at my family and saw just how tense they were, even if they were sitting. Each of them was ready to move at a moments notice.

One of the blond haired vampires murmured, "The bond between the human and them is very strong, Aro."

Aro nodded, "I didn't expect it not to be, Marcus, but it would reassure me more if I could know that she will not betray our kind's existence in a bout of anger."

Edward snapped, "You can tell that easily by touching any one of us! You don't need to go anywhere near her," he gestured to me.

The other blond chuckled, "Then we will have to take measures to be reassured that our kinds existence remains a secret."

An angry snarl erupted from Edward, "She is not a threat, Caius!"

My parent's grip tightened around me, and Esme hissed softly, her teeth bared. The one called Jane tensed, a nasty smile on her face.

I could tell that a fight was about to ensue, so I asked, "What do you need to know?"

Aro beamed, "What a smart child!"

Carlisle leaned close to my ear and whispered, just so I could hear, "He wants to read your mind, to do that, you would need to leave the protection of Bella's shield and touch Aro's hand."

I tried to get up, but neither Carlisle nor Esme would release their grips. Carlisle said, "Jane has an ability that gives the illusion of excruciating pain. None of us will let that happen." I was about to reassure him that it wouldn't when he added, "Aro likes to experiment, and I will not let them hurt you."

Aro seemed to have heard this last part, because he said, reassuringly, "I will not harm her in any way, nor will I let Jane, here, use her ability on her. You have my word, Carlisle."

Carlisle's grip grew tighter, but then it loosened, as he reluctantly released me. Esme released her grip as well and I stood up. Aro extended his left hand, and I stepped towards him, I could feel everyone's anxious stares on my back as I touched Aro's hand.

Memories began to fly through my mind, a couple of them private. I did not want Aro to see certain memories, especially if they could put my family in danger, but it seemed like nothing could stop him from seeing them. But the memories I had in mind, never seemed to flash through my mind, at least, not through Aro's searching. He pulled his hand away from mine and turned to face Caius, Marcus, and Jane.

I took that as my leave, and I turned to face my family, Edward had a strange look on his face, but he quickly hid whatever emotion was going through his mind as Aro said, "I see that she will not be of any danger to our secret, so we will take our leave now." Carlisle and the others nodded, watching them apprehensively as they left.

It seemed like ages passed before anyone said anything, but eventually, Jasper asked, "Edward…why were you…surprised just now?"

"Because, Aro didn't see all of Sara's memories," Edward said, looking at me strangely.

"What do you mean?" Alice questioned. "How could he not see all of her memories or thoughts?"

"I would like to know this as well," Rosalie said, looking at me.

Carlisle and Esme embraced me as I finally sat down, as Edward said, "There have been times, though rare, when I can't read her thoughts…and just now, she kept several memories that she had from Aro. Aro of course didn't notice since he never experienced them, but I noticed they weren't looked at, because there was a wall there, not very strong or obvious, but it was there, keeping out Aro's mind and my own."

"What does this mean though?" Esme questioned, stroking my hair, "Is she a mental shield like Bella?"

Carlisle looked thoughtful now as I looked at him, "Maybe, but perhaps not as strong."

"Maybe she's not a shield at all," Edward murmured, "she could have a gift that is different from a shield."

"That's true," Carlisle said nodding.

All I had managed to follow was that Aro had not been able to look at certain memories of mine, so I questioned, "Does that mean there's something wrong with me?"

While everyone looked at me and were about to reassure me, Emmett laughed, "You're living with vampires and you think there's something wrong with you?"

This lightened the mood slightly, as the others laughed along with him as Esme reassured me, "There is nothing wrong with you, you're just special."

"Ed!" Emmett said, clutching his side.

I glared at him before I asked, "Jazz, can you hit him for me?"

Jasper moved towards Emmett who quickly moved away from him, grinning. They were soon in a mock fight.

I looked up at Carlisle, still worried that something might very well be wrong with me. He smiled, "You're just different from your classmates, that is all. But in that same aspect, they're all different from you and each other."

That didn't exactly reassure me, but I relaxed. Apparently my vampire father/doctor didn't think that I had a malfunction in my brain and that was good enough for me…at least for now.

Alice sighed and said, "I'm sorry I didn't see them coming until it was too late to prepare."

Bella smiled at Alice, "We had time to prepare, it was better then not knowing at all."

"Still," Alice said, sulking, "They could have hurt her."

"I'm fine," I said, unable to go and hug Alice since my parents seemed bound and determined not to let me go.

Alice still seemed upset, but she kept quiet just as Jasper managed to punch Emmett in the jaw, making a nasty cracking sound. Emmett rubbed his jaw, apparently unfazed and turned on the TV as I began to drift off, feeling suddenly tired. Something in the back of my mind told me that Jasper was the cause of my sudden sleepiness but I didn't care, a panic probably was on the way, and I would rather avoid that. My eyes closed as I rested my head against my father's chest, soon, I was sound asleep.


	9. Chapter 8: Nightmare

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Little did I know that would be the last night I slept soundly; after the Voltouri's visit, I was plagued with a reoccurring nightmare for several long weeks.

The first day was not so bad after the nightmare, I was tired but it was no big deal, even my parents weren't worried when I told them, Carlisle said, "It's natural to have nightmares, and if you don't want to tell us about it that's fine."

I didn't think much of the nightmare while I was at school; I figured that now that my subconscious had had its fun tormenting me the dream would stop…how little I knew!

Several weeks later, I forced myself to stay awake all night…again. As I walked down the stairs, Edward passed me and stared at me, I could see it in his eyes, he was wondering what the dream was, but there was no way he was seeing it. Apparently I succeeded in hiding it from him, because he continued up the stairs.

I sat down at the table and my mother set a bowl of cereal in front of me, she kissed my forehead and asked softly, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about anything?"

"Yes," I answered. This had become apart of the morning routine: be stared at by Edward, have Esme ask if I had changed my mind, and now Carlisle should be coming in any minute to tell me how unhealthy it was to not sleep.

My father walked into the room, he took one look at me and said, "This has got to stop. Tonight we're going to talk."

"But…" I tried to argue.

"No but's," he said, "I just received a call from your teachers who told me that your grades are falling."

I looked away, it was true. I had not been paying attention in class, the Voltouri were constantly on my mind, school seemed trivial compared to that.

Edward said, apparently having just come down the stairs again, "Perhaps she should stay home." I moaned, that was the last thing I wanted. "While you're at work, Carlisle, the rest of us can keep an eye on her."

I was hoping beyond hope that Carlisle would say no, but instead he nodded, giving his consent. He looked at me and said, "Go get some sleep."

I stood up, glaring angrily at the floor. I didn't want sleep because the nightmare would return, and I didn't want that, but I knew arguing wasn't going to get me anywhere.

Slamming my door, I collapsed onto my bed, knowing deep down that I did need sleep, I closed my eyes, hoping that the nightmare wouldn't come…

I stood outside the house smoke billowed in the air a unique smell to it. Voices cheering drew me towards them, away from the smoke. Gray cloaks danced around a pyre as pieces of my family were thrown into the flames. Before I could scream, a hand covered my mouth, and Caius said, "And now we can finally dispose of this one." Hundreds of red eyes turned my way.

My own screaming woke me up. I barely registered that Rosalie had entered the room and was stroking my hair. I trembled, the dream had gotten worse, never before had any of the Voltouri spoken nor had the pieces of bodies ever had any definite shape. Rosalie's crooning voice wasn't registering in my brain. Sweat trickled down my neck as tears spilled down my face. Slowly, I started to calm down.

"…Get Esme!" Rosalie snapped at whoever opened the door. Her tone softened as she said to me, "It's all right now, it was just a bad dream."

Esme slipped into the room along with Bella and Alice, I caught glimpses of my brothers standing outside my room looking anxious and frustrated. They could easily fight something solid, but they couldn't figure out how to fight a dream.

Esme asked as she moved some of my hair out of my face, "Would you like to talk about it? It might help."

With my mother and sisters next to me, plus my brothers standing outside my room, my dream suddenly didn't seem so terrible, so I told them about the dream and how it kept reoccurring.

When I finished telling them about it, Esme said, "I know you're afraid of this dream, but you can't let it rule your life."

"She's right," Bella said, "You just need to change the dream." I gave her a skeptical look.

Alice saved Bella from responding, "Even Carlisle would tell you that." I couldn't argue with that logic, but I still didn't know how to change the dream.

My mother asked, "Do you want to go to school? You've only missed a few classes, and your father won't be able to argue." I smiled at that as I nodded.

Within half an hour, I sat next to Hiro at our usual lunch table, having been spared the first four classes of the day.

Hiro asked cautiously, "Are you all right?"

"Not really," I answered truthfully, "but I'm better then I have been."

"That's good to hear," he said, biting into his sub sandwich. He shoved my homework towards me, "I was going to drop this off after school, but since you're here…" It was Algebra homework, I moaned. "It was pretty easy," Hiro said, finally swallowing. For Hiro to say it was easy, I knew I would be able to understand it.

The rest of the day passed with me actually paying attention in my classes (no need to make things any worse then they already were). I packed up my school things, already planning on walking home, since the sun was shining, no clouds around to obscure it. A rare occasion indeed!

Hiro asked me as we headed out, "Could you walk home with me?"

"Why?" I questioned. It was a rarity that we ever walked home together since Hiro's home was in one direction and mine was in the other.

"Well…" Hiro looked embarrassed, "you know I haven't been riding with you lately since you've looked ill…and well…I've been seeing these really big dogs around and I'd just feel safer if…well…"  
"If I walked with you?" I guessed, "Sure, why not? I'm not afraid of any dogs." Hiro sighed gratefully as we made our way towards his house.

We walked through the main part of town, heading to the outskirts, Hiro's house, much like my own, was settled just outside Forks, near a small wooded area with a field beside it.

As soon as we left Forks behind us, Hiro became edgy, causing me to feel edgy. Every few seconds I would look around, expecting to see a Rottweiler or a Mastiff, or even an over exuberant Labrador Retriever, but nothing came into sight until we were only approximately fifty yards from Hiro's house.

Hiro gasped pointing, "There they are!"

I followed his pointing hand and my eyes widened in shock. Standing just within the trees, looking startled stood two giant wolves. Wolves mind you, not dogs! They had to be the size of bears, and they had expressions that would have been comical in any other situation. They looked as if they had been caught in the act of something and were trying to not be seen by standing still.

"Hiro," I said slowly, "Those aren't dogs."

"I know… I never got a good look at them until now," he whispered.

I swallowed nervously, I was about to propose something very stupid, "Hiro, I'm going to start heading home at a jog, you just walk home."

I had been hoping that he would argue and tell me I was stupid and that I should come into his house. He just nodded and began to walk towards his house.

Trying to be the master of my fear, I began to jog back the way I had come. Several twigs snapped in the small woods and I knew that the wolves were following. Praying that they weren't hunting I continued to jog until I reached the main part of town. Breathing heavily I glanced behind me. Nothing. I sighed in relief and walked through town, trying to catch my breath. I was always on the track team, but I hadn't had any time to start preparing yet, so I was out of shape. I made my way towards the hospital, hoping that my father would still be there since the sun was still out. Luck was with me! He was just heading out the doors as clouds finally covered the sun, I dashed towards him and slowed up just enough so I wouldn't injure myself by tackling him.

Carlisle sounded startled as he said, "It's good to see you, but what are you doing here? You should be home, resting."

I explained everything to him, the dream, my talk with my mom and my sisters, walking home with Hiro, and the wolves."

Carlisle listened patiently, but what he said when I finished surprised me, "I'll have to tell Jacob to stop following you and Hiro. They must have scented the Voltouri and are now on red alert."

It took my brain a little bit to catch up, "Wait! So the wolves I saw were apart of Jacob's pack?"

He nodded, "It was most likely Jacob and Seth, the alpha and beta, so to speak, Seth took over the beta spot from his sister Leah, but since Seth is still considered young and he's a bit clumsy at times."

Carlisle unlocked the car and slid into the driver's seat, I quickly got in as well. As the car started, I asked, "Why are they following Hiro and I?"

"Since they cannot guard La Push, that's Sam's territory, they guard Forks from vampires besides our coven," Carlisle explained, "So when they caught the Voltouri's scent, I can imagine Jacob wanted a couple wolves constantly watching you two, since you are technically apart of our coven and Hiro is the one you hang out with most often."

"That makes sense," I said, but another question popped into my mind, "Why would the Voltouri cause them alarm?"

"Jacob and several of his pack were there when the Voltouri tried to eliminate us, and none of them have forgotten that," Carlisle answered. I nodded everything made sense now.

The rest of the ride home was quiet, and after a quick dinner, and finishing my homework, I crawled into bed, hoping that my nightmare wouldn't come.

I stood outside the house smoke billowed in the air a unique smell to it. Voices cheering drew me towards them, away from the smoke. Gray cloaks danced around a pyre as pieces of my family were thrown into the flames. I screamed, no hand covered my mouth, instead, Jane dragged forward a human shape that was the size of her. My stomach turned as I recognized Hiro. I ran forward as she moved to sink her fangs into his neck, but I had only taken a few steps when two growls split the air. I turned around to see a huge reddish-brown wolf and a gangly sandy colored wolf stalking forward menacingly, the same two wolves that I had seen near Hiro's house. The reddish-brown wolf thundered forward with unbelievable speed, closely followed by the sandy colored wolf, their teeth made sickening crunches as they tore Jane apart…

I sat up in bed, startled, the dream had definitely changed, and for the better. But as much as I liked to see Jane torn apart, it still wasn't a pleasant dream. I grabbed my blanket and made my way downstairs, seeking my teddy bear of a brother, Emmett.

Emmett was sitting on the couch, the only one in the living room, and he asked as I reached the bottom of the stairs, "Everything all right?" He knew something must have been wrong, since he didn't stop me from sitting next to him on the couch and cuddling into his side, his cold skin feeling nice beneath his shirt. He said, as I closed my eyes, "Just remember you can change the nightmare into a dream."

I knew he was quoting Bella, but I tried to think of something that would make the nightmare into the dream, nothing sprang into my mind immediately as a football game sounded from the TV, but eventually something came to mind, and I smirked as I drifted off to sleep.

I stood outside the house, my family standing beside me, along with two wolves, one reddish-brown and the other a sandy color, the same wolves that I had seen near Hiro's house. Jane held Hiro and her teeth were millimeters from his throat. I snarled, as did the rest of my family along with the two wolves. I shot forward with unbelievable speed, no longer the helpless human.

I awoke the next morning after a peaceful night's sleep, after waking up from the initial first dream, I was fine. Bella and Carlisle had been right, I could change the nightmare into a dream. I could tell that Esme and Carlisle were extremely relieved to see me "bright eyed and bushy tailed", my mother actually made me a hearty breakfast again, showing that her anxiety was gone.

After I finished my breakfast, I walked into the kitchen to rinse off my dishes, when Alice walked past, grinning mischievously. I was suddenly worried. The days had run together when my nightmare had plagued me, so I glanced at the calendar and moaned, it was October already (no wonder I was failing some classes!) I hadn't realized just how long the nightmare had lasted, but that wasn't what worried me. A day had been circled with a red marker…October 30th…my birthday…


	10. Chapter 9: Birthday Crashers

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I was trying to not sulk at the breakfast table on Friday, October 30th…my birthday. The week had flown by and Alice, apparently, had, once again, invited ALL of the kids from my school to the party. Most kids look forward to their birthday…mine's hell. People I don't even know or am bullied by in are in my house, my only sanctuary, on my birthday, the only good thing was when after the party was over and it was just my family…especially when my uncle…or I guess brother-in-law…you know what? We're just going to stick with uncle! The best part is when Uncle Jacob shows up with Aunt Renesmee, or Nessie. (There is no way I'm calling her my niece!)

Carlisle walked into the dining room and asked, "Are you ready to go to school?"

"No," I moaned, taking my halfway eaten breakfast into the kitchen, where it went into the garbage. I rinsed off my plate in the sink, and walked back into the dining room, following Carlisle out into the living room.

Just before he walked out the door, he stopped dead (no pun intended) in his tracks and said, "You're going to have to walk or call Hiro's parents…none of us can take you today…"

Shining happily was the sun…I hate the sun! Today of all days, when I really didn't want it to be shining… it was shining!

As I turned around to go call Hiro, Carlisle behind me, Edward shouted from upstairs, "Don't bother, Jacob just pulled into the drive."

I looked at my father for confirmation, and he nodded. So, my day wasn't totally ruined, at least I was getting a ride to school. I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder before dashing outside.

Jacob smiled when he saw me and said, pulling me into a one-armed hug, "Happy Birthday, Squirt!"

Coming from, say, Emmett or Edward, that would have annoyed me, but Jacob was a giant, so everyone to him was a squirt! I hugged him back, his unusually hot body more unsettling then my family's cold ones. Thinking back on it, Jacob never had been so generous with hugs unless he had several layers of clothes on. Now he was wearing a leather jacket and jeans, plus a helmet. Something told me that was more for show then for his own safety.

After releasing me for his bone-crushing hug that rivaled Emmett's, he tossed me a helmet and leather jacket. He must have stopped at our garage, since the helmet and jacket were the ones Jasper usually would bring for me if he picked me up from school.

I quickly put on the jacket and helmet then I hopped onto the bike, wrapping my arms around his waste. Jacob revved the engine and almost peeled down our driveway…almost. One look from Carlisle, where he stood on the porch, just out of reach of the sun's rays, and the engine settled down, and Jacob pulled out slowly, ducking his head in embarrassment.

Jacob seemed to obey the speed limit, since it took us at least half an hour to get to the school, the first bell rang just as Jacob pulled his motorcycle up to the entrance of the school, ignoring the "No Parking" sign. He cut the engine and pulled off his helmet, "Sorry about taking so long, we'll go faster on the way back when I pick you up after school."

"Why didn't you go faster?" I demanded after yanking off my helmet and unzipping my jacket. Everyone would be talking when I walked in with my attire.

Jacob blushed, "After the Carlisle gave me I decided that going fast wasn't allowed."

I couldn't believe what came out of my mouth next, "Can we just please go faster after school?" I had to add to justify myself, "I think I can beat Alice to my room so she won't be able to dress me in some sort of dress." I turned around and dashed into the school, hearing Jacob's laugh behind me as the doors slammed closed.

Just as the bell rang, I slid into my seat next to Hiro. Mr. Banner gave me a look I could imagine he had given Bella the same look many times. I blushed shame faced as I opened my Biology book, determined to pay attention so I wouldn't anger Mr. Banner any farther.

Apparently, today was just not my day! Not only did I manage to irritate Mr. Banner, but I also managed to irritate all of my other teachers along with the lunch ladies… I was really starting to hate my birthday!

As school ended, much to my relief, Hiro said, "Well at least you can look forward to the party."  
I slammed my locker shut. Hiro, of all people, should know that I HATED parties! Especially parties thrown by Alice!

Hearing the tone in my voice, he asked cautiously, "Can I get a ride home?"

I pointed at the sky, and I was feeling about as irritated as my teachers, "The sun is out! What do you think?"

"Right, no ride," he said, sounding slightly hurt and embarrassed.

I softened my tone as I added, "Maybe I can convince my uncle, Jacob to take you back."

Hiro instantly perked up at this, as Jacob pulled up with his motorcycle. He pulled off his helmet and gazed questioningly at me. I quickly shucked off my leather jacket and pulled out my helmet from my backpack, where I had stashed it earlier.

Jacob sighed in exasperation, but he had enough sense not to comment as Hiro gingerly put on the jacket and helmet. With extreme caution, he got onto the bike and gripped the seat with a death grip, I couldn't blame him for gripping the seat, it would have been awkward for him to grip Jacob around the middle.

Before Jacob drove off he said, "Wait here for me, it shouldn't take too long for me to get back."

I nodded. Where was I going to go? I really didn't want to walk! Jacob put on his helmet and drove off, taking things slowly so he wouldn't give Hiro a heart attack.

Just as Jacob rode out of sight, a familiar, yet not liked voice said, "What no big brothers here to pick you up?"

I whipped around and glared at Jimmy, the bully who picked on Hiro and I. He had his two goons with him, Edwin and Dean.

None of them were scary, they looked stupid to be honest, but a girl, even one who lived with vampires, against three, big, muscular boys wasn't exactly the best odds.

Jimmy shook his blond hair out of his brown eyes, while Edwin, a boy with black hair and "movie star" blue eyes jeered, "Too bad, it looks like the little baby can't run to anybody!"

This caused Jimmy and Dean to laugh. Dean added, "Maybe we should help out the baby!"

More laughing…they must think I'm stupid if they thought I would simply stand there and let them beat me up. They seem to think that a track star wouldn't run. While they were laughing at their own "jokes", I took off running, sprinting for all I was worth because Dean was also on the track team, and he could sprint a hundred yards faster then I could. However, he could only keep his sprint up for those hundred yards while I could keep mine up for at least six hundred yards.

It took Jimmy and his idiot friends a couple seconds before they realized I had took off, but I only had a thirty yard lead when Dean started coming after me. At about eighty yards, Dean tackled me and I fell forward, hitting my face against the pavement, we rolled and then slid, I could feel blood already dripping from my upper lip, and cuts, or scrapes, were stinging on my left cheek, my right arm, and both of my legs in various places.

Dean came out of the tackle better then I did; only his arms were scraped, as he sat up, pressing my face into the ground, and twisting my, already stinging, right arm behind my back so I couldn't really move. Jimmy and Edwin caught up within a few seconds panting. I should mention now, that Edwin is not exactly in the best shape and neither is Jimmy really, which is why they had to have at least one athletic person among them.

Jimmy grinned, "I guess we should teach the little baby what happens when their siblings aren't around!"

I really wasn't in the mood to just lie there and let them pummel me into a pulp, especially on my birthday. As Dean swung his fist, I kicked him in 'the family jewels'. Dean squeaked in shock and released his hold on my arm and I twisted around, however, his fist must have had a mind of its own because it collided with my right eye.

Edwin moved forward to pin me again but I took off, sprinting once again, desperate to get away before Dean could recover. After running for several city blocks I slowed down, my legs and face throbbing. I tried to walk but my legs shook under me, and I leaned against a building to catch my breath.

That's when I heard them, pounding feet at about the pace of a jog, I inched around the corner of the building to see who was approaching, hoping that it was just a jogger. Of course I had no such luck.

I took off again, but Dean must have spotted me, because he came tearing after me, obviously wanting revenge for my low blow.

My legs throbbed as I sprinted out of the town and down the familiar rode that would eventually get me home. I could hear Dean catching up when a grisly growl split the air. A black wolf leapt out of the nearby trees, its teeth bared. It was huge! I stumbled backwards, and fell onto my butt, terrified. The chocolate brown wolf that I had seen near Hiro's house had been big, but this one just seemed bigger, but maybe that was because it was up close and personal…

I vaguely registered that Jimmy, Dean, and Edwin were screaming as they ran away from the wolf.

As soon as they were out of sight the black wolf leapt away and darted back into the woods. No need to say that I was utterly perplexed.

I decided to jog, still unnerved by the black wolf, ignoring the pain, I jogged all the way to our driveway, finally slowing to a walk. Gasping for breath, I walked up the driveway, my chest now hurting along with everything else. I clutched my side and continued walking until I was halfway up the driveway; my body was demanding a rest.

Leaning against a tree I looked at the damage. My right arm was scraped to bits, with several spots bleeding, my legs were worse, most of the area that had been scraped was bleeding. My cheek was mostly scraped, no bleeding, my upper lip was throbbing and my right eye was almost swollen shut.

After I had made these assessments, a choked sob escaped my lips, and I sank slowly to the ground unable to stop the flow of tears that came on. I've had a lot of rotten birthdays…but this one took the cake…

I don't know how long I had been crying, probably not that long, when Jasper seemed to appear in front of me, he took one look at me and scooped me up into his arms and started to run towards the house. A wave of calm came over me, and I had enough sense to press the right side of my face against Jasper's chest, feeling the cold through his shirt.

As he approached the porch, I asked, my lip giving an extra throb as I spoke, "How did you know I was in the driveway?"

"We heard your sobs, plus Edward heard your thoughts and I sensed how you were feeling." This answer satisfied me.

Jasper walked in and Carlisle immediately took me from his arms and carried me upstairs to his office. Carlisle brought work home with him usually. Esme followed him closely, closing the door behind us.

Carlisle set me down in his chair behind his desk and opened his work bag, "What hurts besides your cheek, eye, and lip?"

"My right arm, both my legs, and my left side," I answered, my lip throbbing once again.

Carlisle briefly glanced at my scraped up legs and arm before he gently prodded my side. I inhaled sharply as pain shot through me, more so then there was already. He said, "It seems like you have some bruised ribs…I don't think you'll need any x-rays. I will have to sew up your lip though, it's split pretty badly." He turned to Esme, "If you'll help her clean up those scrapes and get her an ice pack for her eye I'll make a quick run to the hospital to get what I need to sew up her lip."

Five minutes later, my scrapes and cuts feeling much better, an ice pack pressed to my eye, and my lip numb with anesthetic, I was feeling pretty good. As Carlisle stitched up my lip I kept my eyes closed, relishing the earlier events of Carlisle coming home from the hospital and putting a stop to the party, though Alice hadn't need much persuading, she was beating herself up for not seeing me getting pulverized, but I was in paradise anyway. My party was now a simple party, just how I like it!

Carlisle finished stitching up my lip and he cut the surgical thread. I opened my eyes and looked around the room. My siblings must have come in when I had my eyes closed; they all stood near the door, looking anxious.

Closing his medical bag, Carlisle said, "I'll write you a note for P. E. come Monday, I don't want you running or doing anything that requires a lot of physical activity. Your ribs will take awhile to heal, but otherwise you're fine."

"Thanks, Dad," I said, ready to get out of the chair.

Esme asked, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder, "What happened?"

So I told them that three bullies had jumped me at school and I had tried to run but one of them tackled me to the ground. I had to use some…unorthodox methods to get the guy away from me and then I had run/jogged home. I decided to leave the black wolf out of the picture figuring it was apart of Jacob's pack.

When I had finished telling them about what had happened, the doorbell rang. Esme got up and headed towards the door, and my siblings slowly followed. I got up slowly and followed them, Carlisle walked behind me, making sure I didn't fall.

A snarl sounded from the living room, and Carlisle scooped me up and hurried downstairs.

Jacob stood framed by the front door while Esme snarled, "How could you let my baby get hurt?"

Sara saved Jacob from answering, "Mom! I snapped at Hiro just as school let out and I wanted him to take Hiro home to make it up to him, it wasn't his fault!"

Esme relaxed slightly, though she continued to give Jacob an evil look, but that quickly changed as Renesmee walked through the door. Jacob sighed in relief glad apparently glad that he hadn't had to face an angry mother vampire.

Renesmee walked up to me and touched my face, an image of how I looked flashed in my mind, startling me slightly, she asked, "How did you get hurt?"

Edward gently touched Renesmee's shoulder and said, "I'll explain, let her get something to eat." He steered her away from me.

Carlisle touched my shoulder and led me into the dining room, "Your lip will hurt, but you do need to eat…I normally wouldn't let you eat this, but since it's your birthday, and I know you'll be careful…" He walked into the kitchen and came out carrying a pizza.

I took a slice and bit into it cautiously, trying my best to avoid where the stitches were.

Carlisle was just about to sit down when the phone rang, and the doorbell rang as well. He stood up and went to the phone, "Cullen residence, Carlisle speaking."

I normally don't eaves drop, but it was hard not to when there was no one else in the room to distract me from the conversation.

Carlisle's gaze hardened as he listened to whoever was speaking, he finally said, talking quietly, though his voice was laced with anger, "How dare you say that I should teach my daughter manners when your son needs two other people there to bully her!" An angry response came from the other end of the phone. He responded, "My daughter has numerous scrapes, a black eye, bruised ribs, and a split lip that required stitches, now tell me who's lying?" The response from the other end was quiet. "Yes, I will be calling the principal about this since they were on school grounds!" He hung up the phone.

I tried to hide my curiosity, but I must have failed miserably, because Carlisle said, starting to dial a number, "Dean Johnson's father said that he thought I needed to discipline you more for kicking his son, and added that he would call the principal about your 'unprovoked' kick." He motioned for me to get out of the room, so I grabbed two more slices of pizza and got out of the room.

As I walked into the living room, I spotted Hiro sitting on the couch, Hiro turned to face me smiling until he saw my appearance, "What happened to you?"

"Bullies," I answered, sitting down next to him.

Hiro nodded, understanding why I didn't want to say Jimmy, Dean, and Edwin's names because I didn't want my brothers to deal with them. It was my problem, not theirs.

The doorbell rang again, and Bella answered it and said, surprised, "Sam? What are you doing here?"

Jacob stood up instantly, Renesmee holding his arm. Edward tensed as did Jasper, both of them knowing something the rest of us didn't.

Sam directed his words to Jacob, "Relax, we only came to talk to Sara." Edward hissed and Jacob clenched his fists, but otherwise there was no other reaction to those words.

_We?_ I craned my neck to see who else was with Sam, and saw two other guys standing just behind Sam

Hiro perked up and said, "Hi, Mr. Ulley!"

Sam nodded at Hiro, but turned his attention to me. I got up and walked towards him. He turned and walked out of the house, I followed.

He led me several yards into the woods away from the house before he stopped and turned to face me, "How are you after getting hurt by those bullies?"

This startled me, "How did you know that?"

"I was the wolf that came out of the woods," he smiled slightly.

"I'm okay," I answered truthfully. My lip had begun to hurt again, but otherwise I was doing pretty good.

Sam nodded, "You'd be better off somewhere away from the Cullens."

"What?" I was affronted, "They're my family! They love me…!"

He cut me off, "They're only interested in your blood."

I glared at him, "A doctor didn't exactly…okay, so a doctor did patch me up, but that doctor is a vampire! My father!"

"True enough," he conceded, "the doctor is the ONLY one who doesn't crave your blood the rest of them…"

Now was my turn to interrupt, "For your information, my father is the one who craves my blood the most, but he would never hurt me!" I turned on my heel to head back to the house, but he grabbed my arm, "Let go!"

A chocolate brown wolf stalked out of the undergrowth, its teeth bared. Same released my arm, "All right, Jacob! I'll leave, but I had to see if I could talk some sense into her before they changed her." The chocolate brown wolf growled in response.

Sam retreated farther into the forest for a minute, but he returned a few seconds later as a black wolf. He stalked past Jacob, his tail held high, and he released a soft bark, before he bounded away. I barely heard the sound of two other sets of paw steps thudding after him.

The chocolate brown wolf, who I now knew was Jacob, padded up to me and then bowed, nudging my left knee with his nose. I was hoping that he wanted me to climb on his back, because that's what I ended up doing. Rising slowly he loped out of the woods and carried me to within a hundred yards of the house. He bowed again and I got off, walking towards the house as he headed back into the woods. I figured he was going to transform back into a human.

The rest of the night passed in a blur, I was surrounded by people who cared about me and I received several cool gifts from my family including a hand knitted blanket (Esme), a punching bag (Emmett), a blue silk dress (Alice), a mood ring (Jasper), _Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Book 1: The Lightning Thief_ (Hiro), a Bob Seger CD (Edward), a tool kit (Rosalie), a turquoise necklace (Bella), a hand carved wolf (Jacob), a heart necklace with her name on it (Carlisle), and a wolf T-shirt (Renesmee).

I couldn't help thinking as I lay down to get some sleep, _this day seemed like it was going to be crappy, but it wasn't too bad…it could have been worse…granted it could have been better too. I wonder why Sam Ulley wanted to get me away from my family?_ That's when it hit me… Sam Ulley didn't want me to become a vampire.


	11. Chapter 10: The Boy

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I found it hard to sleep in my bed that night, because my lip throbbed insistently whenever I lay on my left side, (where the stitches were) as did my ribs and I always lay on my left side. After several hours of trying to get some sleep, it was around two in the morning, I crawled out of bed and headed downstairs, hoping one of my cold skinned family members was downstairs.

I was in luck! Edward was softly playing the piano, Alice was flipping through some teen fashion magazines, and Esme was dusting off one of the glass vases on top on a small table. All of them turned their heads as I reached the bottom step.

Alice had a smirk on her face as she turned to Edward, "Told you she'd be down!"

Any other time I would have smiled, but I had learned earlier in the evening that smiling hurt my lip.

"Are you all right?" Esme asked concerned as she walked towards me.

A voice behind me on the steps questioned, "Is your lip hurting?"

I turned around and nodded at Carlisle, who must have heard me walk past his office, "And my ribs."

Alice walked over with her dancer's step and picked me up, much to my surprise, and carried me over to the recliner where she had been sitting only a few seconds before.

As she sat down, Edward dropped a blanket onto me before walking back over to the piano. He must have read Alice's mind. Edward began to play a soft tune again, but this time I recognized it. The tune was a lullaby that Esme used to sing to me and that Edward made an accompaniment on the piano for it.

Alice's cold body temperature seeped through her clothes so that it was a nice chill against my left cheek and lip, and though I wasn't exactly comfortable, I drifted off into sleep.

Voices reached my ears and I readjusted my position slightly, trying to drown them out. They stopped for a few seconds, but then continued talking softly, but it was enough to keep me awake, so I decided that I'd listen to the conversation.

Esme said, sounding close to tears, "Maybe Sam's right…maybe we should…"  
"No," Carlisle said, cutting her off, his voice gentle, "She's a member of this family…"

"But shouldn't it be her choice?" Alice questioned her voice loudest since I was still cradled against her body.

Emmett argued, "But what if she chose to leave? We can't let that happen!"

"Do you really think she'd leave?" Bella asked her voice so quiet I barely heard it.

"I wouldn't blame her if she did with all these recent events," Jasper murmured, "I mean, we didn't even realize she was being bullied until just last night, and that's not something that happens overnight."

Rosalie snarled, "She wouldn't leave because of that!"

Before the conversation could go any further I sneezed, I could feel all eyes on me, so I blinked groggily, pretending that I didn't hear a thing and hoping Edward wouldn't know otherwise. I felt very pleased with myself when I managed to keep my panic down as well so Jasper wouldn't figure anything out.

Carlisle said, "We'll discuss this later." Before turning to me and smiling, "How are you feeling?"

I moved my right arm, testing it out, it was stiff, and my lip still hurt and my ribs had a dull pain, but otherwise I was fine, "I'm a little stiff."

"That's to be expected," he said, walking over and giving me a kiss on my forehead. "I might let you have some pain killers tonight so you'll sleep better."

"Thanks, Dad," I emphasized that last word.

Carlisle smiled and turned to Esme, "Pancakes would probably be the best for her, so she won't have to open her mouth too much. I don't want her to tear out her stitches."

Esme nodded and walked towards the kitchen, but made a detour; she kissed the top of my head and then kissed Carlisle's cheek before going into the dining room, and then the kitchen.

I slowly got out of Alice's lap, and sat on the floor, Alice instantly jumped up and headed upstairs. I wondered, "Was I keeping her from doing something?"

Jasper said, "She probably saw what you would wear today and decided to go find you something more 'suitable'."

I cringed, "Shouldn't someone stop her?"

Bella moved away from Edward and headed up the stairs to, hopefully, stop Alice.

Emmett turned on the TV and plopped (if it could be called that, he was so lithe) onto the recliner. When Alice didn't come down the stairs smiling, after several minutes, I figured Bella was still in the process of talking her out of making me her personal Barbie. I leaned against Emmett's left leg and watched the football game that was playing on the TV, while I waited for my breakfast. I was still trying to show just how much I loved them. Not telling them about the bullies was my choice, it wasn't their fault that they didn't know, I had been just too good at hiding the fact.

About ten minutes later, Esme called from the dining room, and I stood up and walked into the dining room. Esme smiled at me and stroked my hair before walking out into the living room. _They're going to talk about me again…_ I had trouble eating my pancakes knowing this fact.

Once I finished my pancakes, I rinsed off my plate and walked back into the living room. I was startled to see my bags, usually used for sleep over's, sitting near the door.

Carlisle walked over to me and knelt down, embracing me, "We're going to go hunting, but before that, there is something that we have to ask you… Do you want to continue living with us?" I tried to say something, but he placed two cold fingers over my mouth, "We want you to really consider this decision. We'll be off hunting for three days; we'll come back Monday afternoon. Until then, Jacob and Nessie will let you stay with them."

As if on cue, I heard a car door slam, I assumed it was Jacob's Rabbit. Esme walked up to me and hugged me, whispering, so even Carlisle wouldn't hear, "We do love you, but we need to know what's best for you…even if that means letting you go." She kissed my uninjured cheek, and quickly turned away. I had a feeling that she was close to sobbing…without the tears.

A knock sounded from the door and Jacob walked in, looking slightly irritated, he grabbed my bags and walked out of the door, and I figured I would have to follow as soon as I changed. Dashing up the stairs I flew into my room, grabbed a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, under garments, and socks, before heading towards the shower.

Wishing I could wash my worries away, I quickly showered and got dressed, heading downstairs once more. I was shocked to find that my family had already left apart from Jacob.

Jacob still seemed irritated as we walked towards the Rabbit, I didn't have to wait long to find out what was bothering him, "Sam shows up and suddenly they're not sure if they should be raising you." He snorted irritably as he backed up and then put the car in drive, "Where else are you going to go…to your birth parents?" He suddenly became quiet.

"My birth parents…?" Jacob looked suddenly pale. "What do you know about my birth parents?"

Jacob looked like he wanted to shrink to the size of a Chihuahua…maybe smaller, "Your family…they…they managed to track down your birth parents." I stared at him, my eyes wide. He added quietly, "They found that your birth parents had two other children…babies…this was three years ago."

My heart plummeted, my parents hadn't wanted me…they just left me and then started a family without even wondering what had happened to me. Tears stung at the corners of my eyes, but I steeled myself. MY parents, Carlisle and Esme loved me. They loved me so much that they were willing to let me decide if I wanted to stay with them, and they had given me three days (as if I would need so many!) to decide it I wanted to remain a Cullen.

"That's all right…I'm proud to be a Cullen," I said after a few worried glances from Jacob.

He immediately relaxed, "That's good, because I like having a niece."

I was so happy that he didn't say sister-in-law!

In no time we made it to the Black residence in La Push. It was a simple, gray sided house, and even though Jacob and his pack protected Forks, they were still welcome in La Push. (Jacob explained all this to me in the car.)

Nessie welcomed me with open arms and quickly showed me the guest room, as I was setting my bags down, she touched my cheek, and her question flashed in my mind. I reassured her, "Yes, I'm staying with MY family."

"Good!" She said beaming, wrapping me in a hug. "Until they get back, you can just enjoy yourself," she added as an afterthought, "Just be careful whenever Jacob's eating, he might accidentally grab your hand."

Jacob had been walking by at that precise moment, and he pretended to be insulted, "I do not eat that much."

I snorted; trying desperately to contain my laughter…I didn't succeed. Jacob grabbed me, being careful not to hurt me in any way, and gave me a noogie. I rubbed the top of my head afterwards, feeling a little dizzy, but it soon passed. I knew I would enjoy myself here in La Push with Jacob and Nessie.

It was Sunday afternoon, and while Jacob and Nessie were walking down on the shoreline, hand in hand, I walked up to the cliffs, wanting to stare out at the ocean. Reaching the top, I sat down and sighed contentedly as the sounds of crashing waves and seabirds came to me; it was very relaxing.

I don't know how long I must have sat there, but I was startled when a voice said, "Beautiful isn't it?" I whipped around, ready to get to my feet if necessary, but I relaxed seeing it was only a boy around my age.

He was definitely from around La Push, his light brown skin, high cheekbones, and black hair were a giveaway that he was Quileute. He wore only swim trunks and sneakers, and he was very muscular and handsome, his long hair was tied into a pony tail, and his eyes were a stormy gray, his gaze was intense.

I answered him, "Yes, it is."

He nodded, "It's a good place to come and think."

"Or relax," I said, smiling.

"Or relax," he agreed, sitting down next to me, "I was going to do some cliff diving, but I think I'll save that for another day. The waves are too fierce for my liking."

I looked down closer to the cliff and saw what he meant, what looked like calm swells out at sea pounded the cliff with a loud roar.

I couldn't help saying, "You dive off these cliffs?"

"Here and there," he said a gleam in his eyes, "But not on days when the waves are like this." He gestured to the waves below, "The current underneath will be worse then it usually is."

I was wondering what it would be like to dive from such an extreme height, what an adrenaline rush that would be!

He asked, jolting me out of my thoughts, "Who are you with that you'd be here? Friends? Family?" He sounded doubtful on the last one.

"Family," I said, pointing to the two figures that were Jacob and Nessie, "I'm staying with my aunt and uncle until tomorrow."

He nodded, "That's neat."

I was beginning to wonder why this strange boy seemed so obsessed with making conversation, a large part of me still wanted to relax.

The boy lay down on his back and stared up at the cloud covered sky, and said randomly, "There is so much on this earth that we don't understand, and what we humans don't understand we destroy," his gaze became sad, "the wolves that once used to hunt in this territory are now gone as are many other animals…" He closed his eyes, "But then again, we wouldn't be here right now, enjoying the view." His eyes opened and drifted to me, "So, are you annoyed with me yet?"

I couldn't help laughing, and he grinned back. I finally managed to say, "No, I'm not annoyed. This is actually nice."

He nodded, still lying on his back, we both jumped as Jacob called from halfway down the cliff, "Sara! Come on down here, we need to get back!"

I sighed. I had been enjoying my time with this strange boy. The boy turned his head to gaze down the cliff and he suddenly got up, "I have to go as well." His gaze seemed troubled. "Perhaps I'll see you another time?"

"Sure," I said, starting towards the path down.

He smiled as he headed towards the other path, "I look forward to it!"

It was only once I was seated in the Volkswagen Rabbit with Jacob and Nessie, heading back to their house that I realized that I had never told the boy my name, and I didn't know his.


	12. Chapter 11: Advice

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I was relieved to be at school, after seeing just how much lovey dovey stuff goes on at Jacob and Nessie's place. Jacob explained to me that he had imprinted on Nessie, so it was like she was his whole world…I still say he could have tried a little harder to keep the lovey dovey to a minimal!

Hiro was waiting for me as I got, happily, out of the Rabbit. He asked; confused, "Where's your, Dad? It's not sunny today." Yes, it was raining again, it's Forks.

"My family went on a long camping trip this time around. They didn't want me to miss any more school," I answered, somewhat truthfully.

Hiro seemed to know I was holding something back, "What else happened?"

I sighed, "They asked me if I still wanted to live with them."

"What?" Hiro exclaimed, looking horrified, "But you can't leave! You…"

I cut him off, "I'm staying! I would never leave my family!"

He sighed in relief, "Good, because I would miss you."

"We're best friends," I said casually, hiding how touched I was, "I couldn't leave you behind."

Hiro beamed, "Yep! Now we really should head in."

Now that we were drenched, we dashed into the school and slipped into our seats just before the bell could ring and before Mr. Banner had turned around to see who had cut the time so close. Hiro and I tried to look as innocent as possible, but Mr. Banner still gave us a hard stare, probably because we were the only ones who were sopping wet.

School flew by, probably because I wanted to see my family, including my annoying siblings, Edward and Alice. Hiro commented as I fast walked towards the exit, "I never thought I'd see you so happy to be going home."

"I never thought I'd be this excited either," I answered, pushing the door open and walking out into the rain.

Just as we got to the curb a silver Volvo pulled up and Hiro slid into the backseat, while I took shotgun, hugging Edward as soon as I was in my seat.

Edward, who had been about to ask how my weekend had been, was temporarily speechless as he drove out of the school parking lot towards Hiro's house.

When we arrived at Hiro's house, Edward had still not said a word; Hiro gave me a look that asked silently "What did you do?" Before he waved and darted into his house, without tripping, amazingly!

As we pulled out of the driveway, Edward finally said, "Did you have fun at Renesmee's?"

"Yeah," I answered, "I could have done without all the lovey dovey stuff though."

He smiled, "I suppose that would get annoying."

"Beyond annoying," I muttered. I decided to add, "When they were walking on the beach, I went up to a cliff to watch the waves…" Edward scowled, and I knew that meant he didn't approve of me climbing up a cliff, but he kept silent, "I met a boy, who I assume, was Quileute, and we talked, but I didn't catch his name before he left."

"And he didn't ask yours," Edward finished, reading my mind. My annoyance with him was slowly starting to come back.

"No…but it seemed odd that he had to leave as soon as Jacob arrived," I commented.

Edward nodded, "That does seem strange, but I wouldn't dwell on it too much."

I nodded in agreement. A small silence spanned between us, but I soon broke it, "Is Dad home?"

"Of course…granted, I wouldn't tackle him with a hug like you did me…your smell will hit him harder today since he's been away from you for several days," he said, uneasily.

"I knew that already," I said, trying to hide that I had forgotten the fact that Carlisle would be more tempted to drink my blood since we had been separated for two, almost three, days. Edward grinned triumphantly as he read my mind, I scowled, now officially, annoyed.

It was only a few minutes before Edward parked his Volvo in the garage. I calmly walked to the house, containing my excitement, eager to see the rest of my family.

When I opened the door, Emmett pulled me into one of his bone crushing hugs, making me gasp when he finally released me. Rosalie was gentler, giving me a fond embrace before getting out of the way, dragging Emmett with her. Alice hugged me quickly before letting Jasper give me a hug as well. Bella stepped forward, hugged me briefly, and then kissed Edward, before they stepped aside to let Esme through. Esme wrapped me into one of her loving hugs and kissed my forehead, before she glanced behind her at Carlisle, who had seemed to appear out of thin air. I gently pulled away from Esme and walked slowly up to Carlisle, who seemed a bit wary, I hugged him, and he seemed to relax, as he hugged me back, but I noticed his breaths were more shallow then usual. I hoped that he wouldn't be like this for too long.

Carlisle asked, stepping away from me, "Have you decided about whether you want to stay or not?" Everyone seemed to hold their breath waiting for my answer.

I walked forward, hugging him again, making him intake sharply, "You're my family, and I could never leave here!"

Everyone seemed to breathe again, and Carlisle cautiously placed a kiss on my forehead, whispering, "By tomorrow I should be better; your smell is just hitting me harder today."

"I know, Dad," I kissed his cheek, and he smiled, pulling me closer.

He commented, "Then again, I might be just as fine in a few minutes." I couldn't help smiling; it was great to have my family back.

Esme scooted around us and walked into the kitchen saying over her shoulder, "I'll think I'll make pizza tonight!" Today was going perfectly!

Carlisle moved over to the couch and sat down, and I sat down next to him, cuddling against his chest, he laughed softly as he placed his arm around me, "I'm definitely going to be used to your scent again if you keep this up."

"But that's good, right?" I questioned.

He nodded, "Yes, it is good." He turned his gaze to the TV and his expression darkened, "Turn up the volume, Emmett."

Emmett quickly grabbed the remote and raised the volume so the news was louder: "In Georgia today, another victim was found. Though gangs are suspected, police are no closer to finding the killer or killers, as the police are beginning to believe."

Jasper said, "It looks like the Southern vampires are getting bold again with creating newborns."

"That's what I was thinking," Carlisle murmured, looking uneasy.

Emmett said, "At least they're on the other side of the country rather then here."

"Yes," Carlisle said, relief sounding slightly in his voice, "At least they're not near here." He pulled me closer to his side, and I had a feeling that the murders in Georgia had him very worried.

I asked, "What's so bad about newborns?"

Everyone looked at Jasper, who said, "I'll explain once you've eaten." Now I was a little worried.

Once I had finished eating, Jasper, Carlisle, and Esme were the only ones in the living room. Carlisle and Esme were seated on the couch, while Jasper stood in the center of the room. I made my way over to the couch and sat down in between my parents.

Jasper started by rolling up his right sleeve and saying, "Newborn vampires, unlike adults, are driven more by their thirst then anything else for their first few years. They are also much stronger then a more matured vampire, but can easily be outmaneuvered. Meeting up with one though can still have its consequences." He moved his right arm under a lamp, and at first, I wasn't sure what he was showing me. A gasp escaped my mouth when I saw the very faint traces of crescent shaped scars covering his arm.

"A vampire's venom will always leave marks like that, even on other vampires," he continued. I didn't want to imagine how many vampires could have done that to my brother. "If you ever do happen to come across a newborn, as I said earlier, they're stronger, and faster, but they are not smart, you'll just have to outmaneuver them. Zigzagging would be a good method for you since you're a good runner." I nodded, though I could understand the danger, the thought of newborns being anywhere near Forks, Washington seemed almost laughable…almost.

Even though Jasper couldn't read my mind, he seemed to agree with my thoughts, "It's doubtful that you'll ever have to do that, but it's better to be prepared versus unprepared." I nodded again, and Jasper left, seeming to feel that he was no longer needed.

Esme said, "We want you to remember what Jasper just told you, just in case something ever does happen, and we're not nearby…we can't bear the thought of losing you."

"I know it seems unlikely that there will ever be newborns in the area, but stranger things have happened," Carlisle said, "And like your mother said, we don't want to lose you."

I took their words to heart, knowing that they wouldn't have had Jasper tell me about newborns if they didn't think it was something that could one day be a threat. I repeated Jasper's advice in my head: _"They're stronger, and faster, but they are not smart, you'll just have to outmaneuver them…"_


	13. Chapter 12: True Family

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I was sitting in English, staring out the window; a couple weeks after Jasper had explained a few things about newborn vampires. My mind was on my real parents…wondering who they were… If they even knew that I was alive… If they even cared if I was alive or dead?

It wasn't that I really wanted to leave my family, it's just that now that I knew they were alive and had other kids it just made me wonder if they would like to meet me or at least know that I was alive and well.

A gentle touch on my shoulder startled me, making me jump. Mrs. Notron said kindly, "Sara, the bell rang a minute ago, you can go home."

"Oh…thanks!" I said, thoroughly embarrassed and blushing as I quickly grabbed my things and darted out of the classroom.

Hiro stood patiently by my locker, like the loyal friend he was. He asked as I approached, "You're still thinking about your real parents aren't you?"

"Yeah," I sighed, feeling terrible, "And now I have to hide the fact from my parents…and siblings."

"Can I still have a ride home?" Hiro questioned hopefully.

"Of course!" I answered, smiling. "You'll distract whoever's picking us up from focusing on me."

Hiro grinned, "What are friends for?"

Stepping outside into a fine drizzle, a Jeep pulled up, and Hiro groaned, "I was hoping for the Turbo!"

I patted his shoulder sympathetically as I jumped into the front next to Emmett. Hiro managed to figure out the safety harness before Emmett peeled out of the parking lot.

Hiro gasped, "Holy-! Why are we going so fast?"

"Well…I just like living on the edge!" Emmett replied laughing as he slowed down.

Both Hiro and I relaxed; neither of us really liked going that fast in a car. When we pulled up in front of Hiro's house, Hiro couldn't get his harness off fast enough. He sighed loudly as his feet hit solid ground before he walked towards his house, swaying slightly.

I scolded, "Did you really have to go that fast?"

"Yes," he answered, grinning from ear to ear. I rolled my eyes. "Come on!" He said fondly, ruffling my hair, "Admit it. You liked the speed!"

"No, I like going slow," I stated calmly. I amended, "I like speed applied to human standards."

Emmett snorted, "I thought I taught you better."

"You forget I have two parents and five other siblings to teach me other things," I said smiling.

"Yeah, yeah," Emmett rolled his eyes, "you're supposed to only listen to me."

I gave him an incredulous look, "You can explain that to Carlisle and Esme."

Emmett sighed resignedly as he pulled into the driveway, speeding up slightly, "Good point."

A few seconds of silence passed as Emmett pulled into the garage. I leapt out of the Jeep, after removing the safety harness and walked into the house. Carlisle was sitting on the couch, so I hugged him first. He kissed the top of my head, but what he said threw me for a loop, "Put your book bag upstairs and then come outside. We're going somewhere."

I was utterly perplexed, but I did as he said. Darting up the stairs, into my room, I tossed my book bag on the floor and darted back down. Once outside, I saw that Carlisle had pulled out his Mercedes, and I slipped into the front seat.

I asked cautiously as he pulled out of the driveway, "Where are we going?"

"Edward finally managed to figure out what has been on your mind for the past couple of weeks," Carlisle answered calmly.

"Dad, that doesn't mean-!" I tried to object, but he interrupted me before I could finish.

"I know that you don't want to leave, but you are curious…I don't see what it would hurt for you to see what they look like," He said.

I questioned, "Can I talk to them?"

He shook his head back and forth, "I'm afraid not. It's for the best."

I nodded, not entirely convinced that his words were true, but I decided not to argue.

A few minutes later he parked the car across the street from a park and got out, motioning for me to follow him. I got out of the car and hurried after him, wondering what a park had to do with my birth parents.

Carlisle sat down on one of the benches and I sat next to him, still curious, He placed one arm around my shoulders, and I pretended to be focusing on the play equipment for the kids, out of the corner of my eye I saw exactly how distressed he was. It didn't show in his face, but his eyes. They showed worry.

I looked away from him and focused on a family that had just arrived with two children…a boy…and a girl…around the age of three. Carlisle gripped my shoulder briefly, but it was so light and fast, that I almost missed it. These were my birth parents and blood siblings. I watched as my birth parents picked up the fraternal twins and sat them down in the two different swings, pushing them gently. The twins squealed in delight…

This was too much for me. I got up suddenly, tears in my eyes and fast walked towards the car, Carlisle followed me, keeping a few feet back, but I could feel his worry coming off him in waves.

I threw open the passenger's door and sat down in the back seat, hoping Carlisle would just start the car and go home. I had no such luck.

Moving slowly he sat down in the back seat next to me and closed the door. He allowed a few seconds of silence to span between us before he said, "I'm sorry." Wrapping me in his arms, he gently pulled me towards him, and I didn't resist. I buried my head against his chest and began to sob uncontrollably. _They didn't care! They never cared and I know that, so why is it hitting me so hard to see them happy with my blood siblings?_

I voiced my thoughts through my sobs, "Why? Why is this hitting me so hard?"

He didn't answer at first. After several seconds on silence he said, stroking my bangs out of my face, "You wanted them to acknowledge that you're not there. You didn't want to see them happy, and I shouldn't have brought you here to see them…Esme said it was a bad idea…" He trailed off.

"It's not your fault, and I'm glad I saw them," I said, wiping my eyes. "I know now that they really, truly didn't want me."

Carlisle looked away from me and glanced out the window, "I think that they just weren't ready at the time, and they knew that we doctors at the hospital wouldn't have let anything bad happen to you… When you consider how long they waited to have more children…"

"They weren't ready for me," I said softly, tears welled up in my eyes again.

Carlisle kissed the top of my head, "Some good came out of their decision though," he paused and I looked up at him, wondering what he meant, "Esme and I got you." I cuddle against him and smiled. At least someone had wanted me, and I was content where I was at.

We stayed like that for several more minutes, enjoying our father/daughter time. Eventually, though, I moved, knowing Esme would be getting worried.

Neither of us said anything as we moved to the front seats, nor did we talk on the way home. I finally said as he parked in the garage and turned off the car, "I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too," Carlisle said softly, smiling slightly as he got out of the car. Before I had even finished undoing my seat belt, he opened my car door. Once I stepped out, he put his arm around me and we walked up to the house.

Tears stung at the corners of my eyes as we entered the house, but I wiped them away. I was getting way to emotional over this. Esme walked forward and kissed Carlisle before she turned to me and kissed my cheek.

The water works started again, so to hide my tears from Edward, Bella, and Rosalie, who were also in the room, I hugged Esme and whispered so my voice wouldn't give me away, "I love you, Mom."

She stroked my head and rubbed my back, "I love you too, sweetie."

I started slightly as I felt someone else place an arm around me but I relaxed, knowing it was Carlisle. We stayed like that for several minutes before Esme pulled away and asked me, "Are you hungry?"

"Yes," I admitted just as my stomach growled.

Esme smiled, "I've got just the thing!"

As Esme led the way into the kitchen Carlisle headed upstairs, I assumed, to his office.

When the door swung open from the dining room, the warm scent of chicken and stuffing (mainly the stuffing) got my immediate attention and perked me up as well. I sat down and Esme brought out a plate piled high with stuffing and chicken.

I asked between mouthfuls, remembering something Hiro had told me earlier, "Would it be all right if tomorrow I went to the pizzeria in town? Hiro said his friend from La Push would be buying."

"As long as it's okay with your father, I don't see any problems," Esme said, smiling.

I nodded, "I'll ask him once I've finished."

Fifteen minutes later, I knocked on Carlisle's office door but there was no answer, so I headed to my room. I found my father sitting on my bed, looking out my one wall, which was glass from ceiling to the floor like the rest of the house, I usually closed the curtains at night other times my parents would close them. He smiled as I walked in and said, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay now," I answered truthfully. He nodded. "What are you doing in here?"

"Just dropping something off in your room," he answered evasively.

I nodded, deciding not to pester him for answers, "Dad, may I go tomorrow to the pizzeria in town with Hiro and his friend from La Push? Hiro said his friend was paying."

"That's fine by me," Carlisle said nodding. He glanced at my book bag on the floor, "Do your homework if you have any." He made his way towards the door.

I hugged him as he walked past, causing him to stop, but he smiled and stroked the top of my head, "You're a wonderful daughter." He kissed the top of my head before heading out my bedroom door.

I walked over to my book bag and dragged it towards my desk, where I found a note written in Carlisle's neat handwriting, it read:

A baby is  
A gift of love  
That god sent down  
From high above,

Which is why we're so happy

He blessed us with you

I couldn't help smiling, my dad wasn't a poet, so I figured he had Bella think it up, or maybe Esme used to say that to me when I was a baby, either way, it meant a lot to me. I picked up the note to move it aside, when I saw what lay beneath the note. A necklace with a cross on it sat on my desk. The cross was a brilliant silver, but it had a red jewel sitting at its center. I picked it up and started to head to Carlisle's office.

"Come in," came from inside his office before I had even knocked. I entered, and Carlisle smiled, looking up from a book he had been reading, "I see you found the necklace."

"Dad, where…why…?" I couldn't form a sentence.

He smiled, "I want you to have it, consider it a family heirloom."

"But, Dad," I tried to protest.

Carlisle stood up and walked towards me, placing his hands on my shoulders, "I want you to have it. It can remind you of how much your mother and I love you."

I nodded, unwilling to argue. He kissed the top of my head, "Go do your homework and then go to bed, tomorrow you can have all the fun you want."

He bent down so I could kiss his cheek before leaving his office, and heading back to my room to do my homework.

**_Since this is Christmas week, I'll put one chapter of this up each day!_**


	14. Chapter 13: Daring

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

The next morning, as I hoped out of the car at school, I reminded Carlisle, "I won't be home right away later, and I won't be eating either, since I'll be with Hiro and his friend from La Push."

Carlisle smiled, "Yes, I remember. I'll remind your mother as well."

"Thanks, Dad," I said smiling.

"I hope you have fun," he said, still smiling, "Now get going." I closed the door and he drove off. I didn't watch him leave.

I jumped as I turned to see Hiro behind me, "Don't do that!" _I get enough of that at home, _I added silently.

"So? What did they say?" He asked eagerly.

"They said it'd be fine," I answered, smiling.

Hiro was practically skipping as we headed towards Biology, "You and Josh will get along, I know you guys will, you're both pretty similar to each other! Then both of my best friends will know each other!"

"That's why you're doing this?" I asked. Hiro nodded, "Why is Josh paying then?"

"He volunteered. He wants to meet you…you want to meet him, right?" Hiro questioned.

I laughed, "Yes, I want to meet him. It'll be interesting to know who this mysterious Josh, from La Push is." We entered Biology and I froze, "We'll have to get through our classes first."

Mr. Banner and Carlisle were talking as we took our usual seats; we caught the last bit of the conversation. Mr. Banner said, "Thank you, Dr. Cullen, for helping with this. It will help with the blood drive promotion."

_Blood and my father, who's a vampire…not good, _"Dad," I said timidly. Carlisle glanced my way, but continued his conversation with Mr. Banner, "I'm happy to help. I'm sure your students will find it interesting as well."

"Dad!" I said, hinting that I wanted to talk.

"If you'll excuse me," Carlisle said smoothly.

Mr. Banner said, "It's no problem, I need to get things ready for the class anyway."

Hiro looked at me quizzically as I led Carlisle out into the hallway and towards the Janitor's Closet. Once inside the Janitor's Closet I yanked on the light cord and asked, "What are you during here?"

"I'm helping out your teacher by helping with the finger pricking…though mainly I'll be dealing with those that faint or get sick, if any," Carlisle answered.

"Dad," I said, trying to be calm, "My finger will also be pricked, and my blood will flow, making its scent stronger…can you handle that."

"You always came to me when you were younger when you had scraped knees and elbows, cut your hand with scissors, came home only recently covered in blood…I think I can handle it," he said.

I pointed out, "You're hungrier then those times."

"I can handle it," Carlisle asserted. He kissed my cheek, "Everything will be fine, now get to class."

I walked into the classroom and Hiro asked, "What was that about?"

"I was wondering why he was here," I somewhat lied.

Carlisle walked in then and made his way towards the back of the room where Mr. Banner was preparing everything.

After the first and second bells rang, Mr. Banner started class, "As you all know, this Saturday, our school will be hosting a blood drive, and since you'll eventually be old enough to give blood, I'd thought it'd be good if you all knew your blood types. Dr. Cullen has agreed to help me today, just in case any of you get sick." Several students laughed, but were silenced by an icy stare from Mr. Banner, "Now, Dr. Cullen will start on the right side of the classroom, and I'll start from the left, if anybody feels sick, just raise your hand."

They both made their way towards the front and I swallowed nervously, _after he finishes with the front row, I'll be next and the last thing we need is someone to find out he's a vampire!_ Next to me Hiro made a funny noise, but I ignored it, since Carlisle was walking towards our desk.

Carlisle glanced at me but he placed a hand on Hiro's back. Hiro had his face pressed against the desk, "Feeling a bit queasy, Hiro?" Hiro made a sound that I figured was a yes. Carlisle lifted him easily from the chair, and helped him to the back of the room where he had Hiro sit down. He walked to the front of the room and asked one of the students, who already knew their blood type, to help Hiro go to the Nurse's office.

Carlisle came back to my desk and said, "Now, this will sting, but only for a moment." He placed the pricking contraption (I don't know what it's called, that's Carlisle's expertise) against my finger, and he was right, it did sting. I inhaled sharply. Carlisle worked quickly and he said, "Was that so bad?"

"No," I admitted. I had watched his face the whole time and he had shown no reaction to my blood. He placed a bandage on my hand and said, "You can find out what your blood type is after school, or when you get home."

"All right," I said nodding.

He glanced around the room and said, "Now I'm going to head to the Nurse's Office to make sure Hiro is all right."

I sighed; _he stayed just to prove his point. He was fine; I had no need to be worried._

Hiro was back in school activities around lunch time, and he ate heartily. He asked, "So, how has the rest of your day gone?"

"It's been great," I said sarcastically. "Algebra was the best!"

"Now I know you're being sarcastic," Hiro said. He suddenly smiled, "Ready for after school?"

"To eat good pizza? Yeah," Hiro frowned at me. "I'm kidding. Yes, I'm ready."

"Good," he said satisfied, shoving the remaining half of his burger into his mouth. It was amazing how he could eat like that after nearly throwing up.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur, but when that final bell rang I sprang out of my seat, ready to be out of there. I went to my locker and shoved my books into my backpack before heading towards the doors. Hiro caught up with me just as I pushed through the doors.

It was a ten minute walk from the school to the pizzeria, but that didn't faze either of us. We enjoyed the sunshine of the day and joked around teasing the other about the simplest of things.

We were across the street from the pizzeria when Hiro looked around, he sighed, "I guess Josh is running late…but that's nothing new, we'll just wait here for him."

"That's fine, I'm in no hurry," I said, "especially since he's paying."

"Good point…he can be as late as he wants!" Hiro said. I laughed.

Movement down the street caught my eye, but the sounds did as well. Close to where Hiro and I were standing, a little boy was playing with a ball with his sister, they had to be about the same age, Further down the street was a convoy of trucks.

Hiro followed my gaze, "Trucks in Forks, now I've seen everything."

I didn't get a chance to enjoy his joke; the ball that the two kids had been playing with rolled into the street, just as the trucks were halfway down the street. I started running, knowing what the little boy was going to do before he did it. I barely registered that Hiro shouted something at me, and so did another male voice, but I was focused on the boy as he stepped into the street after his ball.

Running for all I was worth, I tore down half the street, and into the intersection just as they truck came upon the boy. I shoved the boy out of the way, and yanked my arms and legs in so the wheels of the truck wouldn't hit me. I rolled onto my back and watched the wheels roll past. The fumes made me cough and choke; I knew I had to get out from under the truck. Just as the last wheel passed on the first truck, the front wheels of the second truck took their place. As soon as they passed I threw myself out from under the truck and rolled into the middle of the street.

I stood up quickly and got honked at by a green car for my heroism. I threw up my hands in disbelief, but I didn't stay there. I walked back to the sidewalk, shaken.

Hiro and another boy who looked vaguely familiar dashed towards me, but a yellow 911 Porsche Turbo squealed to a halt next to me. Alice threw open the car door, nearly throwing it off and stalked towards me snarling, "What were you thinking?"

I was scared stiff. I had never seen Alice so mad. Alice continued, "You weren't thinking! You could have been killed!"

Before she could continue yelling at me, a couple caring the boy, and the little boy's sister came up to me, and my heart stuttered. They were MY birth parents, MY blood siblings. Alice seemed to recoil from them as she stepped behind me.

My birth mother said, sounding relieved, "Thank you so much for saving our son."

"Is there anything we can do to repay you?" My birth father asked placing a hand on my shoulder

Lots of things went through my mind, _apologize for abandoning me, offer to take me back…_ I looked away from them, "It was nothing…I'm glad he's okay." They left, scolding their son and yet lavishing love on him, my stomach twisted itself into knots.

I could feel Alice's gaze on my back, as Hiro and his friend approached. Alice placed a hand on my shoulder, "I saw you going under those trucks…I didn't see what else would happen."

"I wish you had," I murmured, feeling sick.

Alice turned me around to face her, "We'll keep this between you and I if you want."

"Let me think about it," I said dully. "You'll know if I make a decision."

Alice got back into her Porsche and drove off just as Hiro and his friend walked up.

Hiro asked, panting, "Are you okay?"

"Are you nuts?" Hiro's friend asked.

I looked at him properly for the first time, and I said, startled, "You're that guy I met in La Push!"

"You're that girl!" He said, obviously as startled as I was.

Hiro looked between the two of us, "You know each other?" He shook his head back and forth, "That's not important though! What were you thinking?"

"As Alice pointed out, nothing," I muttered darkly.

Hiro was sometimes too perceptive, "Did you know that boy's parents?"

"Yeah," I said softly, "They're my birth parents."

Hiro's friend said, loudly, cutting off the last part of my sentence, "I'm Josh Ulley, nice to meet you!" He extended his hand.

I shook it and met his gaze, silently thanking him, "Sara Cullen, nice to meet you properly."

Hiro stared between us, and he shook his head, "Well, since you're done with all the heroics…I hope, let's go get some pizza, I'm starving!"

"Yeah," Josh said, smiling, "We can get to know each other better."

"And here a cool story," Hiro said, his eyes filled with awe, "You can tell us what happened because I only saw from when you shoved the kid out of the way, and when you went under it, that was it."

"I'll tell you all about it," I said smiling.


	15. Chapter 14: Complicated

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

In the pizzeria, after debating what toppings went well together on pizza and what didn't. Hiro gazed at me expectantly, while I finished off my first glass of Mountain Dew, wondering what he wanted. As I pushed it to the edge of the table I asked, "What?"

Josh said, turning his gaze from the window, "We both want to hear whatever possessed you to dive in front of a semi and to then roll out from under a different, moving semi."

"I did say I would tell you guys," I was suddenly reluctant to tell them, but I did, and it was as honest as possible, "I just saw the boy was going to dart out in front of the truck so I just reacted, I didn't really think. Once I was under the truck I just wanted to get out from under it…alive! So once the first went past and the second one was over me I jumped out after the front wheel passed, before, the back wheels could approach."

"Still stupid," Josh muttered.

I shot him a dirty look, "Oh, and what would you have done?"

"Not jump out until the trucks had finished going over me," Josh said.

I grinned, "Meaning you'd still jump in front of the truck?"

Hiro laughed as Josh looked away from me, frowning, "All that aside," I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes, "let's go to another subject. I'll have to deal with a couple of angry v-, parents!"

"What were you about to say?" Hiro questioned casually, eyeing the pizza that had arrived at the table next to us.

"I meant to say very, but my tongue got tied up," I lied quickly. I noticed Josh looking at me intently, obviously not fooled by my lie, but willing to let it drop. So far…this Hiro's two best friends getting together thing, didn't seem like it was going to work. Especially since Josh seemed to be more observant and perceptive then Hiro.

Josh asked, "What's it like having so many siblings?"

Hiro and I stared at him stupidly; his subject change was that random. "What?" He questioned, looking at us.

"That was really random," Hiro said, clutching his sides as he laughed.

Josh blushed, so I answered, "My siblings can be nice and at other times they annoy the hell out of me." He nodded thoughtfully.

Hiro looked between the two of us, "You two are weird."

"And you're not?" Josh and I asked in perfect unison. This set us all off laughing until the pizza arrived, and the waitress gave us funny looks as she set it on our table before she walked off. Maybe Josh and I could get along after all.

Taking a slice of pizza and taking a bite, Hiro said, "You know what would be cool," paused as he swallowed, "if we could hang out more often."

Josh said, quicker then I could, "I can't come into Forks that often, I had enough trouble convincing my parents to let me come today."

"And I can't go into La Push that often unless Jacob or Nessie are free," I added.

Hiro scowled, "You two act too much alike! How did I know you two would think of some sort of excuse?"

"Because you know us so well?" I guessed.

That only made Hiro grumble more, while a slight smirk came upon Josh's face, which he tried to hide.

Hiro whined, "There has to be a way we can all make this work! I really want to hang out with both of you!"

I began to rack my brain, trying to think of a way I could get to La Push, nothing came to mind.

Josh shook his head, apparently not coming up with anything either. Hiro sulked.

"Maybe," Josh said slowly, apparently searching for the right words, "Over summer break we can get together. I know that it will work better for me anyway."

"Sounds good," I said, "My parents can't argue with that."

Hiro was beaming as he took another slice, biting into it happily.

Josh and I hurriedly grabbed a slice each before Hiro devoured the whole pizza.

After several hours of talking and getting to know each other, I found that I liked Josh…as a friend, and it seemed like he felt the same way. As I walked out of the pizzeria, the night sky clear, I glanced across the street and saw my dad's black Mercedes. I swallowed nervously.

Hiro followed my gaze and said, "I wish you luck…Well, bye!" He took off towards his parents' car.

"Good luck," Josh said as he walked calmly towards a red pickup truck.

I sighed, _abandoned already…well…here goes nothing!_ Trying to look like nothing was wrong, I walked to the Mercedes and slid into the front seat.

Carlisle put the car into drive and pulled out slowly…that's what worried me. After a few minutes of going slowly in town, and of complete silence I said, "I'm sorry…"

"You're not sorry for what you did," Carlisle said, sighing, "you're sorry that you gave your mother and I a terrible fright, but you're not sorry for saving a boy's life."

I smiled, tentatively, "Yeah, that's it."

The car sped up, "Just please be more careful in the future," he whispered.

"I'll try," I said, purposely not guaranteeing anything.

Carlisle smiled, "That's all I ask." Once again, a few seconds of silence spanned between us as the car sped down the highway, "Did you like Hiro's friend?"

"He was interesting, and I think we could become friends," I answered truthfully.

He nodded thoughtfully, "What was his name?"

"Josh Ulley," I answered.

Carlisle stiffened, "Ulley? You're sure that was his last name?"

"Yeah…Why?" I questioned, worried by his reaction.

Carlisle relaxed slightly, hearing the worry in my voice, "He's Sam's son, meaning that he'll most likely be a werewolf eventually."

"Why can't I ever have any normal friends?" I groaned, leaning against his cold shoulder.

He laughed, "Hiro's normal."

"He's WAY to into the paranormal," I muttered.

Carlisle continued to laugh, "Be that as it may, you won't be able to invite Josh to our house. No need to make his transformation, if any occurs, sooner that it has to."

"Right, more secrets," I grumbled.

"Such is life," Carlisle said, pulling into the garage. I didn't want to think of how fast the car had been going to get us here so quickly.

As I got out of the car I asked, "Dad…would people really turn on you and the rest of the family if they found out you were vampires."

Carlisle leaned against the car and gazed at me intently for several minutes, at least it felt like that long, "Yes. Humans fear what they don't understand, even though we've lived here for quite some time, they would turn on us and try to destroy us." I found this hard to accept. He continued, "We'll have to be moving on soon as it is. Slowly, people are beginning to notice that none of us are aging…apart from you. You're the reason we've stayed here so long." He smiled, "We didn't…and still don't, want to take you away from your friends."

My blood turned cold I was the reason they had stayed so long, they were risking their very existence for me and my happiness. "Dad…"

He cut me off, "We'll stay here in Forks until you graduate, then we will have to move to somewhere else." Carlisle walked around the car and pulled me into a hug, "You're very precious to us, and we all love you."

I scowled, "You shouldn't have to put yourselves in danger because of me!"

"We're not in any real danger," he said quietly, "you'd be amazed at how people can blind themselves to the truth, all because they don't want to admit something is true." He pulled away from our hug, but he kept one arm around my shoulders as we started walking towards the house.

I stated, "Life is too complicated!"


	16. Chapter 15: Relatives

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

School flew by in a whirlwind of activity…I'm joking. It was boring as hell! Nothing interesting happened to me apart from the usual bullying and my siblings making my life miserable, and my parents being as loving and understanding as ever. The week before Christmas eventually arrived, and Hiro and I walked happily out of the school, rejoicing in our freedom from school, no matter how brief it was!

Hiro began to make a snowball trying to look nonchalant, "Man, I can't wait for Christmas! It's going to be awesome this year! Especially with all this snow!" There was at least a foot of snow surrounding us, and flurries were coming down from the sky, slowly getting bigger. "Oh, and Josh invited us to La Push on Wednesday next week," he added, finishing his snowball, and slowly rising.

I hit him with a snowball I had made, "Sounds good, I'll just have to talk to my parents about that."

Hiro tried to hit me with a snowball but I dodged to the side, hearing a metallic thump, as his snowball hit a car. Hiro's eyes widened as Edward stepped out of his Volvo and examined the door, making sure there wasn't a dent. He stood poised against the door after examining it, waiting for us.

"What is your family doing this year?" Hiro asked, his eyes sparkling with wonder.

"Nothing special this year, Dad said we'd be staying home and a few family members would be coming over," I answered, trying to hide my unease. The only family members I knew about were Renesmee and Jacob, but Carlisle made it sound like it was going to be a lot more then that!

Hiro sighed, "And here I thought you'd be going to Iceland or something…" I rolled my eyes. Every year my family tended to take a trip somewhere, be it to New York City, Brazil, or even England.

Edward questioned, raising an eyebrow, "Are you going to let me freeze while you two talk or are you going to get in the warm car?"

Hiro eagerly dashed towards the car, obviously cold, while I glared at Edward, he couldn't even feel the cold…HE was COLDER then the outside weather! He merely winked before sliding into the driver's seat; I sat in the backseat with Hiro.

Edward asked, "So, are you guys ready for your Christmas Break?"

"You bet!" Hiro said happily, "No school is awesome!"

Edward chuckled, then he looked at me through the rearview mirror, "Well?"

"Of course I'm happy to be out of school," I answered, "and for Christmas itself." Edward smiled, obviously thrilled that he hadn't gotten one word answers.

After dropping Hiro, and pulling into the garage, I led the way towards the house, when a snowball hit me with such force that I pitched forward, face first, into the snow. Spitting out snow, I turned and glared at Edward, with a look that should have incinerated him, but he just stood, smiling his crooked grin. I stood up, my shoulder twinged a bit; I knew I would have a bruise there. Grinning even more, Edward tossed another snowball at me, I jumped to the side, but the snowball grazed my side. I bent down slowly, watching him warily as I shaped a snow ball; he continued to grin, annoying me. Without standing up I threw it, and he merely stepped aside. I ground my teeth together, trying not to get too frustrated.

Without any warning, a snowball slammed into Edward's chest, sending him backwards into the snow. Whipping around, I spotted Jasper who looked very smug.

Edward stood up quickly, dusting the snow out of his hair, his gaze became serious as he gazed at Jasper.

Jasper suggested in a soft tone, "Why don't you head inside, Sara, while Edward and I decide who's a better brother?"

I whispered, hoping Edward wouldn't here, "As far as I'm concerned, you're the best right now, Jazz."

Jasper grinned, before ducking as a snowball went flying past his head and slammed into a tree, making it shudder.

I hurried inside, wanting to get out of the line of fire. Glancing around the living room, I noticed that Alice and Bella were heading into the kitchen to, I assumed, to help Edward and Jasper. After I hung up my coat, I walked into the dining room, hoping that some hot chocolate would be waiting for me. I wasn't disappointed.

Esme smiled at me, as she finished putting several white and red poinsettias into a vase, and she placed a kiss on my cheek, "I hope that warms you up, I assumed you were having fun since this is the start of your Christmas Break."

"Yep," I sat down and gratefully drank from the deliciously, warm liquid. I asked, noticing that a few members of my family were unaccounted for, "Where are Emmett, Rosalie, and Dad?"

"Your father went to Egypt to get a few members of our family," she stated, "and Rosalie and Emmett went to the Amazon to get some other family."

"How many other family members are coming?" I asked, warily.

She avoided the question, "What would you like for dinner?"

"Um…pizza," I said, saying the first thing that came into my mind, "but…"

She had left the room the door closing to the kitchen. I sighed. Apparently I wasn't allowed to know exactly who was coming or how many. Finishing my hot chocolate, I walked into the kitchen and asked, "Would it be all right if I went over to Josh's on Wednesday?"

Esme nodded, "As long as you are back before dinner."

"Why?" I inquired.

"The first of our family members will be arriving," Esme answered.

Obviously, the rest of the family was all a big secret. I sighed resignedly and headed upstairs to do the homework that several of my teachers had assigned.

Wednesday, I sat next to Hiro in Sam Ulley's truck as he drove towards his house. I was very uncomfortable sitting so close to the person who did not like my family, or the fact that I wanted to stay. Sam didn't seem to be thinking of that, instead he asked me, "When did your parents want you back by, Sara?"

He was sticking to the lie that we had not met until this morning, "Before five…we have some family coming over. Sam stiffened in his seat, but quickly relaxed, "How nice." He tried to sound cheerful, but apparently he knew more about my relatives then I did.

Sam pulled into his driveway where Josh was waiting, dressed in a leather jacket. Hiro and I glanced at our pathetic winter jackets, Josh was looking better then us already.

Josh smiled as he greeted us, and he asked, "I figured you guys would like to have a snowball fight in the woods," he gestured to the trees behind his house.

A door opened behind us and I turned around, and quickly wished I hadn't, a women, who I assumed was Josh's mom walked out, and her face would have been pretty had it not been marred by three thick, red scars that reached from her hairline to her chin. One scar pulled down on the corner of her eye, and another twisted down the right side of her mouth. I quickly looked away, as she said to Josh, "Don't stay out too long now, we don't need you getting sick," her gaze drifted over Hiro and rested on me, "Any of you."

I was a little startled by her statement, she was including me, the vampire's kid, or whatever they called me, to be safe and not get sick.

She smiled warmly at all of us, "I'll have some hot chocolate and snacks ready for when you three get back."

"Thanks, Mom," Josh said.

Sam moved towards his wife and embraced her warmly, Josh muttered, "Let's get out of here now, before they start getting all lovey dovey."

Hiro and I followed Josh into the trees for quite a ways, until the house was merely a dot amongst the snowy landscape, when we turned to look back at it.

Without warning, a snowball smacked into my head, and I flinched, whipping around. Hiro was grinning triumphantly, and Josh was trying to stifle his laughter.

A gave them a sly glance, "Oh, so that's how you boys want to play!"

Josh continued to grin while Hiro looked worried as I started to shape two snow balls.

Hiro said, "Josh, maybe we should…" He didn't get to finish as my snowball slammed into him. Josh dove to the side, sliding in the snow, getting his jeans wet.

I dove behind a tree as Josh threw a snowball from his position on the ground, and I heard a second one slam against the tree's trunk, and I assumed Hiro was the culprit.

Working quickly, I began to make a pile of snowballs, constantly listening for the crunching of snow, a sure sign that Josh and/or Hiro was approaching. Once I had a decent pile I peeked out from behind my tree and quickly moved back behind it as snowballs came sailing past. Grabbing two of the snowballs, I threw them at where, I thought, Hiro and Josh were, since they had moved behind trees as well.

Doing, what many would consider to be suicide, I grabbed two snowballs, destroyed my pile and began to slowly ease my way into the no-man's land, trying not to have the snow crunch beneath my feet. I failed miserably. Hiro and Josh pelted me with snowballs, but I had the satisfaction of hitting them both with my own snowballs, since they had jumped out from behind their trees.

After an hour or two of throwing snowballs at each other, Josh led the way back to his house, and we all happily took off our sopping jackets and sat around the fireplace, the fire thawing us out.

As she had promised, Josh's mom brought us hot chocolate along with fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies, granted, she made enough to feed an entire army.

Sam said, coming from hallway that was joined to the living room, "Don't forget, Josh that your uncles will be here soon."

"I remember," Josh said. Turning to us he added, "That's why my mom made so many cookies, between my dad and my uncles' appetites, you'd think they'd weigh three hundred pounds."

I stared at all the different platters of cookies, trying to figure out how many or few men would have to eat them. I couldn't come up with anything.

A pound on the front door resounded throughout the house and Josh quickly snagged a handful of cookies and said, "Shall we play video games in my room?"

Hiro and I decided it might be a good idea to snag a few more cookies as well before we followed Josh into his room, just as a rowdy group of men walked in. I turned around to look at them, like an idiot, and I saw them all pause and stare at me with interest. The vampire girl had to be quite a topic to them, especially since I was in the alpha, Sam's house.

Josh's room was fairly neat, for a boy, granted, I wasn't sure if Hiro's room really counted…it was more like a black hole that had puked. Josh's room, on the other hand, was spic and span, everything was organized and neat. The only things that stood out in it were the posters, a CD player with country music CD's lying near it, and a Wii that was ready for use as it sat innocently under a TV. Josh opened on cabinet on his TV stand and asked, "So what game do you guys want to try?"

After much deliberation…okay, so Hiro and I were gawking over all the games Josh had, we decided upon Mario Kart. Hiro chose to play Luigi, Josh chose to play Yoshi, and I chose Bowser.

Josh won most of the races, while I managed to win a few, and Hiro only managed to win one because Josh and I kept knocking each other out of the running.

We must have been at the game for awhile because a knock sounded on Josh's door.

"Come…in," Josh grunted as he tried to force Bowser off the road, it didn't go as he planned.

Sam entered and said, "It's time for your friends to go home."

We all moaned. Josh reluctantly turned off the game and followed us all the way to his Dad's truck. He hopped into the passenger's seat and grinned at Hiro and I, "I want to see the famous Cullen residence."

"You're going to wish you hadn't," Hiro said. Josh stared at him in confusion.

I should elaborate, Josh's house was small, not even the size of Hiro's, but it was good for his family, just like Hiro's suited his family, while mine…mine looked like it belonged to millionaires…which I guess it kind of does.

First, Sam dropped off Hiro, who hopped nimbly out of the car, for once, and walked, towards his house, while Sam aimed his truck towards my house. Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the driveway, and it was another five minutes, before he reached the house itself.

Josh stared, wide-eyed at the house, "You live HERE?"

"Yeah," I muttered as I hopped out of the car, feeling embarrassed, "Thanks for the ride and for inviting me over, I had a good time." I didn't look back at the truck as I plodded up to the house, my too big home. Why couldn't I live in a normal house? I shoved the thought aside as I stepped into the house, and I froze. Someone had redecorated the house to look like a place that belonged in Christmas Town, or somewhere, just not my home. Wreaths decorated the staircase, there was a large Christmas tree sitting in the living room, and other Christmas decorations hung everywhere. My mouth fell open.

"Mom?" I called tentatively, wondering if I was in the right house.

Esme glided in from the dining room, "Oh good, you're home!"

"What happened?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"I asked Alice to decorate," she said smiling, pulling me into a gentle hug and then kissing the top of my head, "I think it looks lovely don't you?"

"Yeah it looks great, but, is it necessary?" I questioned.

Alice danced down the stairs then, "Yes! We're having a Christmas party, why shouldn't the house look nice?"

I couldn't argue with that logic, so instead I asked, "So when will some of our relatives be here?"

"Any minute now," Esme said, pushing some stray strands of hair out of my eyes and away from my face.

Alice tsked at me, "If you'd only let me pick out an outfit for you and let me do your hair."

I knew I was going to regret my gift to Alice even before the words left my mouth, "On Christmas you can do all of that."

Her eyes lit up and I could see my doom lying in their golden depths. Alice said, "Oh, I won't do anything drastic."

_Maybe not drastic to you, but to me it's torture,_ I thought dryly, a knock sounded on our door, and Edward, Bella, and Jasper appeared beside us.

Esme gestured for Alice to open the door, and Alice did so with a flourish, revealing my relatives…more vampires… Why did I think they'd be human, like me?

Two blonds, two black haired, and one sandy haired, stood at the door, their eyes the golden color I had become accustomed to, but they still frightened me a bit, especially the sandy haired one.

The strawberry blonde stepped forward away from the others and questioned, "Is this the human? Her heart is the only one I hear, so I assume she is."

Esme nodded, and pulled me against her, "This is Sara, our daughter." It felt good to hear my mother say those words to these strangers.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sara. I'm Tanya," she said, extending her hand. I gripped it tentatively, and was surprised by the gentleness with which she gripped it, before releasing it.

The other blond approached with the sandy haired one, "I'm Kate," she gestured to the male, "And this is Garret."

Garret said to Kate, "I still have a bit of trouble…" He trailed off and I understood exactly what he was saying. He was not used to being off human blood still.

Edward and Jasper seemed to readjust themselves a bit so they stood closer to me and Esme.

The two black haired vampires stepped forward, and the male spoke, "I'm Eleazar, and this is my mate, Carmen."

Carmen smiled warmly, reminding me a bit of Esme, "How do you do? I've heard you have Carlisle wrapped around your little finger."

This made me blush crimson and everyone laughed, including Garret.

Garret asked, looking at Edward, "You have to be very careful around her then, since she is so fragile?" I was starting to like Garret, he seemed interested in learning about new things, but also adventurous.

"For the most part," he answered, "but she is tougher then most humans having been around us since she was a baby."

Esme released me and I asked, "How are you related to us?"

Tanya answered, "We follow the same principles of avoiding human blood, and since the Cullens are the only other coven we have found that avoid drinking human blood, we consider them family."

I turned to Esme and asked, "So how are the rest 'related'?"

"They aren't…they drink human blood," she answered softly, I paled. "But none of them will hurt you because they are aware of how much you mean to us."

"I hope you're right," I gulped; dreading the moment when the first human blood drinkers arrived.


	17. Chapter 16: Vampire Holiday

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

It was only a day later, that the first of the human blood drinkers arrived. Within that day I learned that I had nothing to fear from Tanya, Kate, Carmen or Eleazar, but Garret was another story. Garret was very new, in vampire terms, to resisting human blood. He was almost more of a danger to me then Carlisle…almost.

I stood in between Jasper and Edward as Esme went to get the door. Tanya and her coven were all lounging about in the living room, waiting patiently. The door flew open before Esme even got close to it revealing, Emmett, Rosalie, and three feline looking vampires, everything about the three female vampires seemed to be elongated from their faces to their legs and even their hair, which was braided back into long, black ponytails. They were dressed in nothing but animal skins, and their movements were quick, and darting, and their eyes were restless, and the red that showed that they definitely fed on human blood. As the two approached me with caution, Edward and Jasper tensed, ready to intervene at any minute, I noticed that behind them, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie were also ready to move at the slightest sign of aggression. Alice was relaxed sitting on the couch, and Bella, who was on her right, also seemed to be relaxed.

Esme said, "Zafrina, Senna, Kachiri, I'd like you to meet Sara, and Sara, this is Zafrina, Senna, and Kachiri."

"Nice to meet you," I managed to say, keeping the fear out of my voice. These red-eyed vampires scared me even more then the Denali coven. The Denali coven at least had the gold colored eyes I was used to. These three females, on the other hand, were the exact opposite of that.

Zafrina spoke, while the other two, Senna and Kachiri, kept silent, but they moved forward with Zafrina as she approached me, like three organisms of the same being, "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. We've heard that you are not afraid of our kind…" She paused eyeing me, "it seems that is true."

With the utmost caution, she reached out and touched my cheek with her hand, laying her palm against my cheek. Her skin was like any other vampire's ice cold and hard, but with how nervous I was, her cold skin felt better then it usually did to me, I leaned against her hand, which she didn't pull away, and closed my eyes. My family was now entirely relaxed; Zafrina's gesture was an unspoken way of saying that she and her sisters wouldn't harm me.

As Zafrina pulled her hand away after a minute or so, and Senna asked Esme, "Is it true Carlisle finds her blood irresistible?"

Everyone head in the room turned to look at Esme, anxious to hear her response. She answered, "Yes, her blood is tempting to him, but he has become virtually immune to it now."

As the others turned to talk amongst themselves, Esme's expression turned to one of worry, and I asked, quietly, though every head in the room turned as soon as I spoke, "What's wrong?"

With a resigned sigh, "Your father has never been away from you for this long…your scent is going to hit him hard when he gets back."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," I reassured her. She smiled, but it was half-hearted.

Bella changed the subject by standing up and asking me, "Are you hungry?"

It was true that it was late in the evening and that I hadn't eaten, so I answered, happy to divert everyone's attention from the subject of Carlisle, "Yeah, I'm starving!"

Bella got up from the couch and herded me into the dining room; Esme followed a few paces behind us.

"I wish they wouldn't have asked that question," Esme sighed, stroking my hair absentmindedly.

Bella said, walking into the kitchen, "You stay in here, I'll cook the meal."

"Mom…" I said tentatively, "Dad would never hurt me, right? He said he wouldn't…"

Esme smiled, "Of course he wouldn't, not intentionally."

"But you're not definite?" I tried to clarify. She nodded, making my stomach clench uncomfortably.

Esme stroked my hair one last time, "I truly hate to say this, but you're never truly safe around us, when Carlisle returns, he'll probably try to keep his distance for a day or two simply because your scent is going to hit him as hard as it did when you first came into our home, but like all of us, he would never hurt you intentionally, but sometimes…" She paused, seemingly unwilling to continue. But after a few seconds of silence, "Sometimes we just can't help ourselves." She walked into the kitchen, leaving me to ponder what she had said.

I had been hoping to have a few seconds to myself, but Edward, Emmett, and Jasper walked in, and I sighed in exasperation; my brothers simply couldn't let me have one second of a peaceful silence.

Jasper sat in the chair to my left, Edward on my right, and Emmett next to Edward.

A wave of calm swept over me and I managed to glare at Jasper. Edward said, "You know none of us would ever hurt you…"

I interrupted him, "For a mind reader you're slow on the uptake. Esme already gave me this talk." Edward scowled while Emmett howled with laughter.

Jasper said, obviously knowing how I felt, "It might help to hear us say that we would not hurt you."

"Yeah," Emmett said nodding, still grinning from my earlier comment, "We could never hurt our little sister."

I smiled warmly at them, "Thanks."

Alice walked in then stating, "Nessie and Jacob will be here in a half hour, and Carlisle will arrive with the vampires from Egypt at eleven thirty tonight."

"Thanks for telling us, Alice," Bella said smiling as she walked into the room, followed by Esme who was carrying a plate of ravioli.

She set the plate down in front of me and stated, "You don't have to wait up for your father."

"I know," I said, suddenly realizing just how much I had missed him after hearing he'd be home tonight. I had missed his calm and reassuring presence, along with how he worried about me a tad bit too much, but I still missed it.

Eating my ravioli quickly, so I wouldn't be eating when Jacob and Nessie arrived, I finished my meal in twenty minutes, giving me ten minutes to spare. I darted upstairs to my room, hoping to have a few minutes of peace and quiet, with Jacob coming the house was surely going to get noisier…if that is even a word! Ever since an event with the Voltouri that had happened several years before I was born, Jacob was now a welcomed and well liked member of our family…at least to everyone but Rosalie. Rosalie hated him for some reason unbeknownst to me.

I flopped onto my bed, just planning on closing my eyes for a brief moment to relax, but before I knew it I was dreaming…

A faceless predator was chasing me, but I knew exactly what it was, a vampire. My heart fluttered in my chest, apparently seeking to escape from the lethal predator that could easily overtake me anytime it wished. With graceful ease, the vampire easily grabbed me around the middle and dragged me to its body. I could feel the vampire lean in and press his teeth against my throat…I screamed.

I sat bolt upright panting, waiting to hear the tell tale signs from downstairs that I had screamed aloud when I had been sleeping. I sighed in relief when neither Esme nor Rosalie came to check on me. I shook my head in disbelief; my subconscious brought forth what I feared most into my dreams, and I prayed that it wouldn't become a nightly ritual. Glancing at my clock, I swore loudly and regretted it, knowing that all of my family had just heard my unique choice of words. The clock read that it was eleven fifteen, my father would be home soon, plus I had missed greeting Nessie and Jacob.

I walked down the stairs, and stumbled slightly, when I saw Esme waiting at the bottom of the steps, an uncharacteristically angry expression on her face, she hissed, "I NEVER want to hear those words come from your mouth again!"

"Yes, Mom, I'm sorry, it sort of slipped out," I muttered apologetically, lowering my head.

Her gaze was still stern, but her tone had softened, "Good, now go greet Jacob and Nessie."

I nodded and followed her into the living room where everyone was sitting around, doing various activities that varied from watching football to playing the piano softly.

I greeted Nessie and Jacob who both smiled and said hello back. Jacob couldn't resist saying, "I loved hearing your choice of words upstairs!"

Great! So not only did vampires have supersensitive hearing, but so did werewolves…wonderful! Not!

I sat next to Edward and Bella on the piano bench, and Edward smoothly changed the tune to something a little more upbeat, he asked quietly, "Are you all right? You seemed to be pretty frightened of your nightmare."

"I'm okay," I answered truthfully. "My subconscious just likes to torment me."

Bella laughed softly as did Edward. I leaned against him, enjoying the coldness that seeped through his shirt sleeve. He continued to play the tune on the piano, but he stopped playing with his right hand and rubbed my shoulder for a minute before he went back to playing.

After sitting next to Edward playing the piano, I jumped slightly when I heard the door open and Carlisle walked through followed by two olive skinned vampires with midnight hair. The male looked close to my age, maybe a little older, and the female looked close to the same age as him.

I completely forgot to be cautious around my father as I tackled him with a hug. Carlisle quickly pushed me away to arm's length and then stepped back, not breathing, his eyes were unreadable. I felt a little hurt by his gesture, and I also felt stupid. I knew that he wouldn't be able to handle that and I had acted like an idiot.

Carlisle inhaled slowly and smiled as he pulled me towards him once again, hugging me, and I hugged him. He said, "I'm glad to see you as well. You're scent's just hitting me harder right now…" Cautiously he lowered his head and kissed the top of my head, "That's about as far as I'm willing to risk things for tonight, all right?"

"Yeah," I answered, happy that he could at least kiss the top of my head.

He stepped away from me and gestured to the two vampires behind him, "Sara, this is Benjamin and his mate, Tia."

"Nice to meet you," I said, nodding in their direction.

Benjamin and Tia nodded back and Benjamin said, "The pleasure is ours."

Carlisle stepped aside to Benjamin and Tia could make themselves comfortably when Esme asked, "Why are Amun and Kebi not with you?"

Benjamin looked uncomfortably as he answered, "We had a…disagreement…about…some things, so we are now on our own, and Amun wants nothing to do with us."

"I hope it's not because of us," Bella said anxiously.

Benjamin reassured her, "No, it was some other issues."

Carlisle came up behind me and placed a gentle hand on my back, nudging me forward. I stepped forward and sat on the couch while Carlisle embraced Esme then kissed her before they both sat down next to me, one on either side, Esme pressed against me, while Carlisle kept at least two inches between us, obviously still adjusting to my scent once again. Gradually, he shortened the distance between us until I could rest my head against his chest, and he wrapped his arm around me. I sighed in contentment and closed my eyes, enjoying his presence and thrilled to have him home.

It felt like I had only just fallen asleep when I felt my shoulder being shaken, along with a voice telling me to wake up. Groggily, I opened my eyes to find that I was in my bed and that my father was the one waking me up.

"Time to get up, sleepy head," he said fondly, "The Irish coven will be here within the hour and I want you to have eaten and be presentable when they arrive."

"Okay," I yawned, emerging from underneath my blankets and stretching. Carlisle left my room and I grabbed a navy blue T-shirt and black jeans along with my undergarments before heading into the bathroom and taking a quick shower.

When I entered the dining room, Esme was just setting a plate of pancakes down on the table and she smiled at me, "Good morning, how are you doing this morning?"

"Good," I answered, sitting down, "I'm glad Dad's home."

She smiled as a male voice said behind me, "And I'm glad to be home."

I jumped, recognizing my father's voice as he kissed my right cheek, apparently used to my scent again, he smiled.

Edward entered just then and said, hearing my thoughts about Carlisle, "He's still adjusting." Bella, who was right behind him, shoved him, causing him to stumble as he headed into the kitchen.

"Is he right?" I questioned, half hoping Edward had been lying.

Carlisle sighed, moving my bangs out of my eyes, "I wish he was, but I'm confident that I can handle your scent right now."

"Okay, as long as you're sure," I said, starting to eat my pancakes.

He stroked my hair as he headed towards the living room, "I'm sure."

In ten minutes I finished my breakfast and walked into the kitchen, Esme smiled at me as I set my dishes in the sink. Something suddenly occurred to me, "Today is Christmas Eve."

Esme nodded, "Yes it is."

"Wow!" I said, startled, "Time sure flies when you're having fun…or being introduced to human blood drinkers."

Esme laughed softly, "I suppose that would make the time go faster, plus you had fun with your friends."

"Yeah, that too," I said smiling, heading into the dining room and then into the living room to await the Irish coven.

The Irish coven didn't keep us waiting. Within a few minutes, Carlisle opened the front door and revealed an immense female vampire, who was both beautiful and mesmerizing, who was obviously the leader. Carlisle greeted her warmly and they embraced as two old friends do after being separated for a period of time. A hard faced male followed her in, and then there was a smaller female, who had bouncy red curls upon her head, she stared intently at me as she gazed past the other female.

Carlisle motioned for me to step forward, and I obliged, he set his hand on my right shoulder and pulled me against his side, "Siobhan," he addressed the immense female, "this is Sara. Sara, this is Siobhan, Liam, and Maggie."

"Hello," I said, smiling. I figured if Carlisle liked these vampires, I should as well.

Siobhan smiled warmly at me and motioned for me to step forward, "Let me get a good look at you."

Glancing at Carlisle, who nodded his permission, I approached Siobhan and her coven. Siobhan smiled the whole time as she looked me over, her red eyes going over my features quickly. Eventually she said, "I can see why she means so much to you, Carlisle, she certainly is pretty, and she is sweet."

I blushed, and Siobhan laughed, it was a warm laugh, and I decided that I liked this unique vampire.

Siobhan asked Carlisle and Esme, "Is it all right if I touch her?"

Esme and Carlisle exchanged a quick glance before nodding, Siobhan extended her hand and gently stroked my right cheek, it felt wonderful, her cool skin brushing against mine. She put her hand on my shoulder and lowered herself to my level and said, "You are indeed a unique one, and the Cullens are lucky to have you."

Esme said smiling, "We know."

Siobhan asked, "Perhaps I'm too presumptuous to ask this, but what is your impression of me?" She looked at Carlisle, her gaze was annoyed.

"Well…based on my first impression…I'd say I like you," I answered truthfully. Siobhan turned to Maggie who nodded.

My gaze must have given away what I was wondering, because Maggie said brightly, "I can tell if people are telling the truth or not, that's my power."

That cleared up that issue, but Carlisle had begun to laugh just then and he said, "See? You truly do have the power to will things to happen!"

"I have no such power," Siobhan scoffed, "it is merely coincidence!"

"You have far too many coincidences then," Carlisle said, still smiling. "You even told me over the phone when I was in Egypt that you hoped Sara would like you."

Siobhan sighed, "We argue about this all the time my friend, and I still say that I have no special power."

"I still say you do," Carlisle responded.

Siobhan rolled her eyes and I moved to sit on the couch next to Rosalie, looking briefly at the TV and deciding it wasn't worth watching since a basketball game was currently on, and not even teams I was familiar with.

My gaze wandered to the Christmas tree, and I couldn't help noticing there were several gifts underneath the tree, but I quickly looked away. Yes, like any other kid, I liked getting gifts, but I also didn't like getting expensive gifts, which my siblings didn't seem to understand, my parents understood though. I let my gaze wander over each of my family members, and the other covens that were in the house, they all seemed at ease, and apart from their eyes and lack of movement, except for Jacob, of course, they all seemed very much like normal humans. I shook my head back and forth, they were human, to some extent, they had the emotions that they had and how they acted, they were still human; they just had cold skin and thirsted for blood.

Christmas morning dawned and I slept through the apparently, "awesome" sunrise, as Emmett told me when I finally woke up around noon. After showering quickly and eating breakfast, I sat, surrounded by vampires in the living room, my family, and the Denali coven closest to me, the Amazon, Irish, and Egyptian covens kept their distance.

Esme and Carlisle sat next to me on the floor, and Carlisle grabbed one of the ten gifts that sat under the tree.

I opened it carefully, trying not to give myself a paper cut, aware that any sign of blood would send the other vampires in the room into a frenzy. The gift was from Esme and I thanked her enthusiastically as I unwrapped a hand knitted blanket, which I had been in need of. After opening several other gifts I had currently received: a first aid kit, (Carlisle, who was worried by the fact that I was still being bullied) boxing gloves, (Emmett, who realized that I needed gloves to punch my punching bag with) a emerald green silk dress, (Alice) an expensive stereo, (Edward, my old one "mysteriously" disappeared) and a hand carved wolf with a chain necklace (Jacob).

I opened the next gift, which was from Renesmee; all of the blood drinking covens had left to hunt FAR away from Forks, I tried not to think about the poor people that they were hunting.

I started to move the tissue paper aside inside the box, when I felt something sharp slice my index finger. Yanking my hand out of the box, I realized that a piece of glass in the box had made a decent sized cut on my finger.

This was too much for Garret. I barely registered that he had moved, when Carlisle sprang off the floor, teeth bared, and a ferocious snarl erupting from him. When they collided, it sounded like two boulders smashing together. Esme pulled me against her and hissed as Garret tried to get around Carlisle by any means necessary, including trying to bite him.

I stared in utter horror at the scene occurring right before my eyes, but I was also fascinated by it, much to my disbelief.

My siblings and Tanya's coven hovered near the combatants, waiting for a moment where they could help, but Garret seemed determined to get at me.

Garret bit Carlisle on the shoulder, and almost got past him, but Carlisle slammed his hand against Garret's chest, causing the blood frenzied vampire to stagger a bit. Garret went to bite Carlisle again, but Kate leapt at him then, and as soon as she touched him, Garret hit the floor, completely immobilized.

Kate left her hand on him as Eleazar helped her to get him out of the room, Carlisle asked, sounding shaken, "Warn the others not to come in here until one of us tells them to." Tanya nodded as she followed Kate and Eleazar outside, Carmen following her.

I asked, worried about my father, "Dad, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he bent down and examined my hand, "go upstairs and wash your hands, then come back down and I'll bandage up your finger."

I did as he said, glancing at the rest of my family who were currently disposing of the box that had the broken glass inside of it.

Renesmee followed me and said as I washed my hands, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that my gift to you had broken when we transported it from our house to here."

"It's not your fault," I said, knowing that was true. No one could tell when their gift broke, not unless you shook it, possibly breaking it then.

As we walked back downstairs, Tanya was in the living room, and I only caught the last bit of the conversation, "…have decided to head back, and Garret wishes you to know that he is ashamed of his behavior and to give his apologizes to Sara." Her gaze moved to me as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Did Garret leave?" I questioned, upset that my mishap had caused him to leave, "he didn't have to…"

Carmen interrupted, "Since he is so new to resisting human blood, he decided it would be best to avoid any further incidents like that, and Kate went with him since they are mates."

I said, without really thinking, "I'm sorry that I cut my finger causing it to bleed." Too late, I remembered from a long ago memory of when I was at least four for apologizing for bleeding and then getting a hard whack on my rear end. The same thing happened now and I started, gazing at Carlisle.

He stated, his tone stern, "You are NOT to apologize for bleeding. You're human, it's completely natural.

I knew I wouldn't be able to sit for a while after that, I said, "I should have been more careful though…"

"You could be the most careful person in the world, and you'd still end up getting hurt eventually," Carlisle said, pulling me close.

Jasper stepped forward as Carmen, Eleazar, and the other covens walked back in, led by Jacob, "Why don't you finish opening your gifts?"

As Jasper handed me the first gift that he touched, I wasn't as excited as before as I restarted to open gifts.

**_Sorry, I didn't mean to forget this one yesterday!_**


	18. Chapter 17: Special

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

After opening my gifts, Alice shepherded me upstairs, as the rest of my family started to open the gifts I got them. (They insisted that I didn't need to get them anything, but I didn't think it was fair for them to get me things without me giving them something in return.) I was truly starting to regret my gift to Alice, when I found a poofy emerald green dress, with flecks of gold sparkles on it, waiting for me in the bathroom. I threw off my usual T-shirt and jeans, and pull on the dress.

Just after I had pulled the dress on, Alice knocked on the bathroom door, before walking in carrying my least favorite items in the world…various make-ups & high heels.

I had to clarify, "You do realize that I'm more likely to get injured with those on, right?"

"You won't fall or get injured, I just checked!" She said brightly, "Now put them on!"

As she placed the various make-up items on the counter, I put on the treacherous high heels, and eyed the make-up darkly.

Alice chided, "Now, now. Don't give that look. I haven't even started yet! You might actually **like** how you look."

"I doubt that," I grumbled, shutting my eyes as Alice began to expertly apply mascara, eye liner, and eye shadow. Once she had finished with my eyes, she applied make-up to my lips, and then she settled on curling my hair. I hated every minute of being a living doll.

Alice smiled triumphantly as she admired her work. When I showed no desire to look in the mirror, she prompted, "Well…look!"

I did as she said, and looked, almost keeling over from shock. The girl that was reflected in the mirror looked nothing like me! She had just the right amount of mascara and eye shadow on, and her hair cascaded in tight curls around her face, accenting it, and finally, the dress…the dress, though beautiful as it was, merely enhanced the beauty of the girl in the mirror. But that girl was not ME!

Alice looked at me, eagerly awaiting my response, and I couldn't bear to inform her of what I really thought, and I prayed Edward couldn't read my mind at the moment, or if he could, that he'd keep his mouth shut! "Wow! Thanks, Alice I look great!" I forced a smile on my face, and Alice beamed at me.

"See," she said smugly, "you like how you look."

_No I don't,_ I said definitely in my head, silently adding, _Edward…you tell and I'll…get Jasper to clobber you!_

Alice opened the bathroom door for me and followed me down the stairs proudly. I glanced around the room and noticed that the Egyptian, Irish, and Amazon covens had returned, their eyes went straight to me. I moved my gaze to more familiar faces and saw that Esme was smiling as was Carlisle, Emmett was trying not to laugh, while Rosalie kept shooting him dirty looks while smiling at me, Bella and Jasper looked sympathetic, while Edward was grinning at me, he mouthed, "You'll get Jasper to clobber me?" Apparently he had heard all of my thoughts. I figured it would be immature to stick my tongue out at him while I was still on the stairs, but I decided I would try to block him consciously, instead of just the little blips he told me about.

_"Edward, you're a #?%!, *^$##, & a $%^&*!"_ I prayed that he hadn't heard all of that; otherwise I was in a load of trouble.

I managed to reach the bottom of the stairs without making a fool of myself, and Carlisle and Esme walked up to me.

Esme said, pulling me into a hug, "You look wonderful. I wish you'd dress like this more often."

As she released me, Carlisle my cheek and said, "You do look wonderful, but you're pretty any way you dress."

I smiled happily. At least someone in my family understood me. I glared at Emmett, who said just then, "You look ridiculous!" He seemed to get paler as Alice stalked towards him, a snarl rising in her throat. Holding his hands up in a defensive position, he said, laughing nervously, "I was kidding, Alice! Really I was!"

"Who do you think would win in a fight right now?" Alice questioned darkly. Emmett chose not to answer, "I would!" She growled before Jasper placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Emmett was only joking," he reassured her, "you know he's not so stupid as to insult you."

"Exactly!" Emmett said brightly. Jasper's choice of words suddenly got through to him, "Hey!"

Zafrina said, "Ignore your brother. Alice made sure she picked clothes that would enhance your natural beauty."

This statement seemed to quell Alice's anger, while I blushed. It was one thing to hear my family call me beautiful, but for a stranger…or acquaintance to say that was something different.

Bella nodded, "Zafrina's right, pay no attention to Emmett."

Before anyone could say anything else on the Emmett subject, Edward asked, "So…what we're you thinking about me earlier?"

Jacob asked, "What you couldn't hear her? I thought you could…"

"Yeah, Dad, I thought you said you could hear her thoughts," Nessie agreed.

"I usually can…" Edward grumbled, "but sometimes I can't, like something's come in the way or something."

Carlisle turned to Eleazar, "Any idea of what her power might be?"

"I'll see if I can tell, you have to remember that I read vampires better then humans," Eleazar said as he walked towards me. He studied me intently for several minutes, and I stood as still as possible, thinking that would help. Eleazar finally said, "From what I can tell, she's not a shield like Bella, but since she's still human I cannot describe her power in depth, but if I had to describe it right now, I'd say it's like a door that allows someone in, or it can keep them out. It's not very strong though, especially if Edward can read her thoughts most of the time."

Carlisle and Edward both nodded thoughtfully, I had a feeling that they'd be going into a lot of scientific talking soon, and that tended to bore me. Sure enough, they began to talk, discussing what my ability could be, and how strong it could be when I became a vampire.

I started to think about what I could do, so I wouldn't have to pay attention to their conversation. I glanced longingly outside, but I didn't think Alice would appreciate me ruining her make-up job on that she had applied to my face. I sighed, and resigned myself to listening to Edward and Carlisle's conversation, as I listened, I almost felt…inferior to them, the vampires, as I listened to them, Eleazar, Jacob, Bella, Siobhan, and Benjamin put in their two cents every sentence or two.

Later that evening, I was up in my room, reading my daily chapter from the Bible. Carlisle had been lenient recently, but he insisted that I should at least read a chapter tonight, so I was reading Job: Chapter Thirteen:

_Everything you say, I have heard before._

_I understand it all; I know as much as you do._

_I'm not your inferior._

_But my dispute is with God, not you;_

_I want to argue my case with him._

_You cover up your ignorance with lies;_

_You are like doctors who can't heal anyone._

_Say nothing and someone may think you are wise!_

I paused in my reading, thinking how the first half accurately reflected my feelings. Why couldn't I be a vampire like the rest of my family? Why must I be "inferior"? So I had a special ability for a human, whoop'd-frickin-doo!

I quickly started to read again, feeling ashamed that I had thought those thoughts while reading the Bible. But it was true. I didn't feel special.


	19. Chapter 18: Summer Again

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

The rest of the school year seemed boring after having my vampire relatives around. Hiro pestered me as to who my relatives were, where they lived, what they were like, and I answered him to the best of my ability…I only told him where they lived. The best part of the school year was when spring rolled around and track started up. I impressed the track coach, granted my brothers ended up embarrassing me in every track meet I went to, cheering me on as loudly as possible. To quote the coach, "I've never seen a winner blushing as they finished the race." Putting it mildly, I had considered various ways of forever sealing my brothers' mouths shut…none of the ideas would have worked as Edward, helpfully, pointed out. Eventually, the school year did end though, and summer rolled around again.

A cool hand stroked my cheek, but it was enough to wake me up. Opening my eyes, my mother sat on the edge of my bed. She smiled and said, "I thought I'd wake you so you could get ready to go to La Push today."

I was up now. Josh had invited Hiro and I down to La Push to enjoy the summer sun that was promised today. I leapt out of bed and pulled open the curtains that blocked the one wall of my room that was just glass, and blinked rapidly, temporarily blinded by the sunshine. Sunshine? Sunshine! Beautiful, exquisite sunshine! I turned back into my room, and was startled slightly, to see my mother sparkling. My mom was sparkling? "Mom…why are you sparkling?"

"Didn't anyone tell you?" Esme questioned. My dumbfounded expression answered her question, "When the sunlight hits our skin we end up…sparkling." She obviously couldn't think of a better word then sparkling.

"So that's why you can't go out into the sunlight!" I said, finally understanding the reason why they didn't go out into the sunlight. I found it funny that I had never noticed before. I assumed that my family had hidden that fact well.

"You're father agreed to drive you to the border of the wolves' territory, then Jacob will take you to Josh's from there," she reminded me as I started to gather my clothes and swimsuit.

The worry in her voice added to my own worries. Two alphas in the same vicinity wasn't good…at least that's what I had been told. Apparently alphas only got together when necessary…Jacob taking me to visit Sam's son…that was on the borderline of tolerance.

Trudging into the bathroom, not looking forward to sitting in a car with a grumpy Jacob, I showered quickly, inhaled my breakfast, and waited impatiently for Carlisle in the garage. I may not have been looking forward to riding with Jacob, but I was looking forward to the rest of the day!

Carlisle strolled into the garage, and I couldn't help whining, thinking I'd be the last one to get to La Push, "Dad! Can't you move any faster?" This was a stupid question. I knew he could move faster, it was the fact that he wasn't that was aggravating me.

Taking a page from Edward's book, he purposely walked slower, smiling brightly. I rolled my eyes and walked over to him, and tried to make him go faster by pushing him. I might as well have been trying to move Forks High School for the good it did.

He laughed and picked up his pace slightly, "And why are you in such a hurry?"

"I…don't know," I admitted, "I guess I don't want to be the last one to La Push. Why are you so happy?"

"It's nice when you don't really consider me to be a vampire," he opened his door and paused, "Then again, maybe it would be better if you kept that in mind more often." He seemed to consider these two contradictions before shrugging and getting into the car. "I guess I'm happier when you're not considering me a vampire then I should be."

Sliding into the passenger's seat, I said, "It's hard for me to consider you as anything but my dad. I know you're a vampire, but you wouldn't hurt me on purpose."

A sad smile appeared on his face, "But I could still injure you, or even kill you and it wouldn't be on purpose."

With that lovely thought planted in my head, he started the car and pulled out of the garage, starting out slow, but gradually gaining in speed until the needle of the speedometer rested at ninety-five, which was slow for any of my family, but reassuring as well. I sometimes worried about Hiro noticing how fast the car was going whenever he was in the car with any of my family members.

Carlisle asked casually, apparently wanting to make conversation, "What are you planning on doing for the day?"

"I'm not sure…we'll probably swim for part of the day," I answered.

He nodded, "Just remember to put on sun screen."

I couldn't help rolling my eyes at him. Leave it to the doctor to think about sunscreen.

Carlisle said, "Don't roll your eyes at me, unless you want to deal with sunburn."

"I have plenty of large icepacks if I do get sunburn," I said.

Carlisle chuckled, "That you do." The car slowed and I sighed. Apparently, if you drove ninety-five miles per hour, you could get to La Push fairly fast. Jacob's Rabbit was sitting idly, and he was leaning against it, looking crabby. Yay…Not!

Carlisle stopped the car and kissed my cheek before saying, "Have fun, and try not to get into any trouble with Jacob or Sam. I'll be waiting here at seven thirty."

"Yeah," I said, and I kissed his cheek before sliding out of the car, towel in hand.

Jacob tried to look happy as I approached, but he didn't succeed. His smile looked more like a grimace. I couldn't help asking, "Is it really that bad for two alphas to get along?"

"Yes," he grunted as he got into the driver's seat, starting the car.

I sighed in exasperation. _I hope Sam's not going to be this bad,_ I thought. A darker thought came into my mind but I shoved it aside hastily, not wanting to even think along those lines. Another thought popped into my head, and as Jacob sped down the road I asked, "Does Josh know that his dad is a werewolf?"

Jacob glanced my way briefly, before shifting his gaze back to the road, "No. None of us can really think of any way to tell the children that they MAY become werewolves that shape shift when their emotions get out of control, particularly when they get angry."

"But…wouldn't it be better to warn them?" I questioned.

Jacob shook his head back and forth, "And make them miserable? No, there's no point in doing that. Let them enjoy their childhood while they can."

"You've thought about this a lot…haven't you?"

"We all have," Jacob said softly, "even those of us that never intend to have kids."

The rest of the ride to the Ulley's house was silent. Neither of us wanted to continue the conversation. It was a relief when we finally arrived and I practically bolted out of the car saying a hasty goodbye to Jacob. Jacob didn't reply, he just peeled out of the driveway.

I jumped when a male voice asked, "What was that about?"

Spinning around I saw Josh standing only a few feet from me, having approached from his house. It was a bit unnerving how quietly he could move…it reminded me a bit of my family…kind of.

"Hi, didn't mean to scare you," he said casually glancing towards the roadway, hinting that he still wanted his question answered.

I shrugged, "I have no idea what's wrong with my uncle. I think he just woke up grouchy."

"Same with my dad," Josh muttered, casting a quick look towards his house. "Where is Hiro at?"

"Who knows? Maybe he tripped," I suggested, thinking of how clumsy he could be. Josh nodded in agreement. He obviously knew Hiro as much as I did.

An awkward silence spanned between us. This was the first time that we had been alone together since the first time we met. Though it must have only been a few minutes, it felt like hours before we spotted Hiro's parents' car.

A sigh of relief escaped me, and it was echoed by Josh. I turned to look at him, feeling embarrassed, and I found that he wasn't looking at me, though a slight blush was on his face.

Hiro leapt out of the car, and stared at us like we had grown both grown an extra head, "What's with you two? You're both blushing!"

This only made me blush more, and I refused to look at Josh after that statement. I swore Hiro glared at Josh, but his look was so quick, that I couldn't be sure.

Josh cleared his throat and pulled at his jacket collar nervously (I had finally turned to look at him), "So, should we go swimming?"

Hiro and I said in unison, "Sure!"

Josh led the way towards the forest that surrounded his house, finding pathways that were hidden to my eyes until we were on them.

Hiro voiced my thoughts, "How do you know where these paths are? I can't even see them until you take us on them!"

"I grew up here, remember?" Josh said, glancing back at us, "Plus, I roam around here all the time…"

After a half hour of walking we reached the beach, the surf flowing lazily onto the beach before retreating slowly, the perfect type of waves for swimming!

Hiro let out a whoop of delight and sprinted forward, doing a swallow dive into the water. On land Hiro may be gawky and uncoordinated, but he was unrivaled in the water.

"Show off!" Josh shouted as he leapt into the water, creating a huge splash that swept over Hiro's head.

Hiro spluttered, "Did you have to do that?" He slapped the water, splashing Josh. Josh retaliated, and soon the two were in a splash match.

I sighed, feeling somewhat left out. It would be easy to join in with them, but this was one of those times where I wished I had a girl friend, not just the two guys.

Walking into the water slowly, trying to adjust to the coolness of the water. I wasn't prepared for the double-whammy of splashing that I received. After my initial shock of getting bombarded faded, Josh and Hiro were still grinning stupidly, not knowing that they had unleashed my wrath!

Sweeping my arms underwater, making it look like I wasn't going to splash them, they turned back to their own fight. Using all my might I swept my arms up and forward. The splashes hit Josh and Hiro dead on, and they both turned to look at me, dumbfounded.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't retaliate?" I questioned, grinning. I got splashed in response.

Lying on the beach, all of us trying to dry out before we started to head back to Josh's house after an hour of splashing each other and swimming, Josh said out of the blue, "Would you two like to meet McKenna? She's a friend of mine from school, and I think she'd like to meet both of you."

Hiro said, sounding like he was close to falling asleep, "Yeah, sure."

Josh sat up and added, staring out at the waves, "I also think she'd like to have one friend who's a girl." He cast a sideways glance at me.

"I'd love to meet her," I said, sitting up as well, "instead of heading back right away, why don't we check out the tide pools? My siblings have told me a lot about them, but I've never actually seen them."

Hiro sat bolt upright, all signs of sleepiness gone, "Yeah! That'd be awesome! I've never seen them either!"

Josh shook his head back and forth, "You two really want to see the tide pools? They're not that interesting."

"Gives us something to do," I argued.

Josh grinned mischievously, "Tomorrow, when McKenna's here, we'll show you how we have fun!"

"Until then," I prompted, standing up, "Let's go see those tide pools!"

Josh ended up being right; when Hiro and I finally saw the tide pools we admitted that, though it was neat to have salt-water fish living inland in a tiny ecosystem of their own, it wasn't that impressive.

Back at Josh's house, after another thirty minute hike, we ended up playing on the Wii, playing various games from Wii Sports, to Mario Kart, to Guitar Hero.

As we were finishing up with the last song, a long ruckus came from the kitchen and Josh groaned, "Great! All of my uncles are here! We'd better get out there now or else there will be no hamburgers or hotdogs left for us."

Josh led the way into the kitchen, the rest of his family still in the living room, greeting each other, grabbing two hamburger buns and two hotdog buns, he quickly filled up his plate, Hiro and I did likewise.

Retreating back to his room, Josh set his plate on his bed, Hiro and I just setting our plates on the floor, he said, "I have to go greet my uncles; you two can stay in here if you want, or you can come with me!" His tone suggested that he wanted us to come with him, so we grudgingly followed him into the living room.

**_Ah...why not? I'll keep posting a chapter everyday until the New Year!_**


	20. Chapter 19: McKenna Ateara

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Showering the next morning, I tried not to remember how all of Josh's freakishly tall uncles had stared at me. Obviously the vampire girl was a huge topic with them, since they were all werewolves, but still, they didn't have to stare! Hiro and Josh both noticed, and that wasn't exactly the best conversation! I know Josh and Hiro did not like the explanation I attempted to give them, but they did eventually let the subject drop. With great reluctance, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, drying myself off before putting on my clothes: the usual T-shirt and jeans. I was trying not to get overly nervous about meeting McKenna, but it was hard not to be. I really did want a friend who could relate to me better than either Hiro or Josh, but knowing my good luck, she'd be the preppy type.

Exiting the bathroom, I walked down the stairs, and a wave of calm swept over me. I sighed, "Please stop, Jazz."

The wave of calm went away as he moved away from the wall at the bottom of the stairs, "You're sure?"

"Positive," I answered, nodding my head, "I don't need to be calm all the time, sometimes a little nervousness does someone good!"

Jasper smiled, "I don't really believe you, but whatever you say." He let me pass as he headed into the living room and I headed towards the dining room.

Edward walked out of the kitchen and he said, apparently trying to cheer me up, "It could have been worse yesterday, one of Sam's pack could have asked what it was like living with leeches."

"If any of them say that I'll…" I trailed off, unsure if it was possible to hurt a werewolf. They seem to be as indestructible as vampires…at least in human standards.

"If they say that, you can't really do anything, except maybe ask Jacob to argue in your favor at their monthly Tribe Council meeting," Edward stated.

"That stinks," I grumbled, plopping down into my chair.

Emmett walked in from the living room at that moment and asked, "What stinks?" He sniffed the air, "Oh, Edward's here, that explains everything!" He took off like a shot, Edward hot on his heels, while I tried not to laugh.

Esme sighed as she walked in, setting my breakfast down in front of me, "Those two are so childish some days."

I glanced around the room, and strained my ears to their fullest, but I didn't hear anything, "Where's Dad?"

"He had to head in early today, there was an emergency that came up at the hospital," she answered.

"Who's taking me today then?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"Bella volunteered to take you and Hiro as far as the border," she stated.

"Hiro's going to ask about that one," I muttered darkly.

Esme smiled, "She is going to say that she's honoring the Quileute's wishes that we not go there."

I frowned, "I guess that works as an excuse…I'll just have to deal with Hiro's 'vampire theory' all day."

"Eat your breakfast," she said, still smiling. "I'm sure your day will be fine."

I nodded, digging into my bacon and cheese omelet, letting the warm flavors dance across my palette.

Edward called from the living room, where it sounded like he had finally caught Emmett, since things were slamming to the floor, making Esme flinch, "You've been watching far too many cooking shows!"

A sound like two boulders smashing together told me that Emmett had most likely punched Edward.

I got up, after inhaling my omelet, and walked into the kitchen and rinsed off my plate and utensils. As I walked back into the kitchen, Emmett and Edward's scuffling could still be heard from the living room, and it only got louder as Bella opened the door and walked into the kitchen.

"Let's head out the back way," she stated, twirling her keys on her right index finger, "We don't need you to get caught in the fray."

A loud crunch from the living room made me agree as I followed her out the back door and around the house to the garage where her black Ferrari was parked near the front, for once, usually it sat in the middle of the garage behind Edward's Volvo.

"Hiro's going to be drooling over this," I commented.

Bella flashed me a smile, "If he does, I'll be sure to clean out the interior of this car." This got the result she wanted, I laughed, knowing full well that she would if Hiro really did drool in her car.

Once I was seated and buckled in, we arrived at Hiro's in five minutes flat. I scowled and muttered as Hiro approached the car, looking like he was dazed, "I forgot that you picked up bad habits from Edward." The speedometer needle had never gone lower then the max speed on the Ferrari. She laughed softly, but stopped as soon as Hiro opened the door.

"This is AWESOME!" He announced happily, gazing at the interior of the Ferrari.

I was so happy that Hiro was too enthralled with Bella's Ferrari to notice how fast she was going. It was another five minutes and we were at the treaty border (Carlisle explained that this treaty was made before I was born…before even Bella was born for that matter! Basically, the wolves would leave them alone as long as they didn't drink human blood [latest edition to the treaty] and as long as they didn't hunt animals anywhere across the border). Jacob was waiting, leaning against his Rabbit, looking more relaxed then the previous day.

"Why are you so happy?" I questioned as soon as I was safely out of the Ferrari.

Jacob grinned, "Sam called me to say that I should drop off you and Hiro at Quil's."

I sighed. Another conversation with my family had been to establish who was in whose pack. Quil was in Jacob's, though he wasn't the second-in-command or beta, that position belonged to Seth, since Leah had left, she had finally managed to stop her transformation into a wolf, and she was living a fairly happy life.

Hiro asked, trying not to sound curious, "Why did we have to trade cars and drivers?"

As Jacob slid into the front seat, while Hiro and I slipped into the back. He answered, "Some of the tribe does not like the Cullens due to their unusually pale skin."

Hiro questioned, "Doesn't your wife have unusually pale skin as well though?"

"She's the exception," Jacob said smiling fondly, obviously thinking of Nessie. "Since she's married to me, exceptions have been made for her, even though she is a Cullen."

"I suppose that makes sense," Hiro stated. He turned to me, "Are you excited to meet McKenna? I know I am!"

"I'm excited," I answered.

"You sure don't sound like it," Hiro muttered.

I defended myself, "I just don't show my excitement like you do!"

Hiro nodded thoughtfully, "True…I don't think I've ever seen you excited about anything."

I rolled my eyes, and Jacob glanced back at us in his rearview mirror. He commented, "I think you'll both like McKenna, she's a nice girl."

"You've met her?" Hiro and I asked in perfect unison.

Jacob nodded, "Quil and I are best friends, of course I've met his daughter." When Hiro and I remained silent he continued, "I'm sure both of you will like her."

He stopped the car, and I gave Jacob a nasty look. Werewolves and vampires were terrible with their speed obsession.

Hiro commented, "That was fast, but time does fly when you're doing things."

Jacob called out from the car, "Have fun! I'll pick you both up around five, got it?"

"Got it," we both called back.

The driveway wound around the forest that was nearby, so Hiro and I started hiking, assuming the house was set further back in the woods. As we rounded the corner Hiro and I were surprised to see Josh, and who we assumed was McKenna, waiting for us.

McKenna was beautiful, her light blue eyes were like sparkling gemstones, and her long black hair, though tied back in a ponytail, would obviously go down to the middle of her back.

Josh smiled as he saw Hiro and I, and McKenna turned around to see us, she smiled as well, "It's nice to meet the friends Josh has been talking so much about." She looked mainly at me as she said this, and I noticed Josh was blushing behind her.

McKenna formerly introduced herself, "I'm McKenna Ateara, and you're Sara Cullen, right?" I nodded, dazed at her forwardness. She turned her attention to Hiro, "And you're Hiro Kamehameha, right?"

Hiro blushed. He was embarrassed by his last name, since it was the same as Goku's signature attack in Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z; he always seemed to forget that it was also the name of a Hawaiian king.

McKenna smiled warmly, "Shall we head inside or do you guys want to go cliff diving?"

"Cliff what?" Hiro questioned.

McKenna laughed, "Cliff diving, we wouldn't jump from the top of the cliffs, we'd be halfway down."

"Told you we'd show you how we have fun here in La Push," Josh said, grinning.

"Sounds neat," I admitted. Plus, I was secretly happy to be considered an equal instead of being coddled in dangerous situations as my family seemed prone to.

Hiro looked at me like I was an alien, "You WANT to go cliff diving?"

Josh said, "It's not as bad as it sounds, and like McKenna said, we'd only do it from halfway, we wouldn't go all the way to the top."

McKenna smiled again, "So, cliff diving now or later?"

"Later!" Hiro begged.

We all laughed, "Hiro, relax," Josh said, "It's not that bad, and if it is, you can slug my shoulder with all your might." Hiro seemed to think this was a satisfactory deal.

McKenna asked, "So what should we do to pass the time?"

We all glanced at the other, unsure of what we could really do to pass the time. McKenna finally suggested, "I guess we could head up to my house and go from there."

"Sounds good," I said, following McKenna as she led the way to her house. Josh and Hiro trailed behind.

After a couple more curves around the surrounding forest, we came upon McKenna's house. It was a modest house that looked perfect for the average family…I wish my house looked like that!

McKenna sighed as we got closer, and I noticed that there was a car up on blocks, with long legs sticking out from under it. "Dad!" She groaned, "Do you have to work on the car now?"

McKenna's father, Quil, slid out from underneath the car, he was apparently on a skateboard, though how his large build managed to fit on it was beyond me. "Yes, I have to work on it now." He glanced at Hiro and Josh, "You two boys care to help?"

"Dad!" McKenna said, aghast, "Really?"

Quil said, "I was just asking!"

Josh and Hiro looked embarrassed as Josh said, "Actually, I wouldn't mind helping." Hiro nodded in agreement.

"Boys," McKenna scoffed before she turned to me, "Guess it's just us girls for now."

"Sure looks like it," Josh and Hiro were eagerly listening to Quil already.

"Come on in, we'll find something to do," McKenna said, optimistically. I followed her.

McKenna's room was nothing like I would have expected. From my first impressions she seemed like the girly-girl type, but I was beyond wrong! Her room was painted in a terra cotta color, posters of wild animals from local wildlife to those that could be found around the world. Hiking boots sat near her doorway, and the trophies on her wall were from cross country.

I had to comment on the trophies, "I commend you for being in cross country."

"Thanks, everyone usually seems to think that it's an easy sport," McKenna admitted.

I stared at her dumbfounded, "People think it's easy? It's harder then regular track!"

She asked, "Are you in cross country?"

"No, just plain old track," I admitted.

McKenna flopped onto her bed, while I sat on the floor, she said, "You know, you're not what I expected."

"I can say the same about you," I said.

She nodded, "You probably thought I was a girl-girl, right?"

"Yeah," I admitted.

"You're not the first," she said, "I just don't like how they act."

"You too?" I questioned rhetorically. She nodded. I couldn't help asking, "What did you think I would be like?"

"I thought you'd be a bossy britches, but you're obviously not," she said.

I was dumbfounded, "Who gave you that idea?"

"Josh isn't very good at describing people," McKenna answered, "He's better at finding paths through the forest then talking about people." She gave me a knowing look, "So…do you like Josh?"

"What?" I was shocked by her question. "Me? Like, Josh? What are you talking about?"

She smiled slyly, "I know he likes you."

"I think you're crazy," I said, hoping she didn't take it the wrong way.

She didn't. She plowed on, "I've known Josh for awhile, I actually think I know him sometimes better then he knows himself."

"Well, I don't think he likes me," I said, feeling heat on my cheeks, knowing that I was blushing.

At three o' clock, Quil drove us down to the beach, apparently okay with us diving from cliffs.

Quil said as he dropped us off, "Keep an eye on how the waves are acting, we don't need anybody getting carried away by a under current."

"Yes, Dad," McKenna said, obviously familiar with this type of talk.

Quil seemed satisfied as he drove off. McKenna asked, "Is everybody ready?"

"No!" Hiro squeaked.

McKenna said, "Hiro, if you really don't want to cliff dive, you don't have to."

"I w-want to t-try it o-once," Hiro stuttered.

Josh said, "Just remember, if it's not fun you can punch my shoulder." Hiro nodded his complexion close to alabaster in color.

Hiro and I followed Josh and McKenna up the Cliffside, pausing partway to our destination. Both McKenna and Josh were looking up, scorn on their faces.

"Show offs," Josh practically growled.

McKenna saw our expressions of confusion and said, pointing at a group of boys who were at the very top of the cliffs, "They are always showing off by doing dangerous stunts like that, jumping off the highest cliffs, bike riding down impossibly steep hills, stuff like that."

"You don't like them, then?" I questioned needlessly.

Her answer surprised me, "It's not that we don't like them…"

"It's how reckless they are," Josh finished, "it's like they think they're invincible, and nobody or anything is completely invincible."

There was a lot of wisdom in those words, and they ended the conversation as we continued to hike to our destination.

McKenna said, once we were at the spot we were going to dive from, "I dive first then either Sara or Hiro can dive, then whichever didn't dive can, then Josh, all right?" We all nodded. "Watch how I do it, particularly at the end." With that said, she leapt off the cliff face, her body never changing it's position of a perfect dive, even at the end.

Josh sighed, "I guess she decided not to do anything fancy, just a regular dive."

I asked Hiro, "Want to go first?" He shook his head back and forth, "You're positive?" He shook his head back and forth again.

Josh said, sounding annoyed, "Hiro, just dive."

Hiro swallowed nervously before he dove off the cliff face…screaming. He did stop screaming just before he went underwater. Josh and I waited anxiously, hoping his fear hadn't caused him to forget something essential, like coming back up for air. We both sighed in relief as he finally resurfaced swimming strongly.

I asked Josh, "Want to go next?"

"That's not what McKenna wanted," he stated.

"True, but I don't want to worry about someone landing on top of me," I countered.

"I wouldn't land on you," Josh said, before he dove off the cliff with a whoop of excitement.

I smiled, Josh was an easy guy to like…not like like, but like as in like as a friend. He resurfaced a few seconds after he hit the water, and I waited until he was close to shore before I dove off the cliff.

It was exhilarating! The wind rushing past and the feeling of being suspended in the air, even though you knew you were falling was the best part! But it was over to quickly; I easily sliced through the water and went down several feet, before I made my way back towards the surface. I swam strongly towards shore, doing the front crawl. I walked onto the beach and approached the others just in time to see Hiro slug Josh in the shoulder. Apparently he hadn't enjoyed the experience of cliff diving. Josh gripped his shoulder; Hiro had obviously hit it very hard.

McKenna demanded, "Why did you two change it up? I wanted Josh to go last just to be sure the two of you were okay!"

I looked away guiltily, "I didn't want the pressure of someone being behind me, sorry."

She sighed, "It's all right, now I know that you two can do it at least, although, I don't think you, Hiro, will be doing it again."

"No way," Hiro stated, "That was terrifying."

"Obviously," McKenna said, rolling her eyes, "you were screaming all the way down."

We all laughed, even Hiro, but I stopped when I saw Jacob approaching, glancing at his cell phone and looking uncomfortable.

The others were still laughing as he approached and said, "Uh…Sara apparently I got the time wrong for when you were supposed to be home…I guess you should have been home ten minutes ago, so…"

"Right," I knew what had happened…Alice. Her seeing the future could be really annoying. "Sorry guys, I guess I have to go. See you all another time?" They nodded.

I started to follow Jacob when I heard McKenna call out, "Wait!" I paused and she handed me a piece of paper, "My number, so we can chat. I want a girl friend I can talk to!"

She was smiling brightly, and I smiled back, "I'll try to give you my number as soon as possible."

"I'm glad we got to meet!" She called out as I started to follow Jacob again.

Once we were out of earshot from the others, Jacob said, "If you get grounded you have my permission to blame me for 'telling' your parents about you cliff diving."

"Alice strikes again!" I muttered darkly. "She always ruins my fun."

Jacob smiled at that, "I honestly am glad I'm not in your shoes, Esme sounded furious."

"Great," I said, knowing full well that I would probably be grounded.


	21. Chapter 20: Spark

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

The ride home was fine, when I did finally get home though; I began to wish that Jacob had been driving a tad bit slower. My mother stood poised on the porch, her expression one of fury. I shuddered before getting out of the car, remembering that "hell hath no fury like a woman's…" okay, so the quote didn't exactly fit, but it was close enough!

"What did you think you were doing?" Esme demanded as soon as I was within shouting distance.

I was intimidated. It was one thing to see my mother mad at one of my siblings, it was another to have her anger directed at me, "I thought I was having fun with my friends."

"By jumping off a cliff?" She shouted, "You can't do things like that! You could get killed by doing something like that!"

"We weren't at the top of the cliff, only halfway up," I stated, trying to defend myself.

"That makes it so much better," Esme snorted angrily.

I shook with anger, "Why can't I do things like that with MY friends? We were being careful! Both McKenna and Josh knew that the currents were mild, otherwise we wouldn't have gone!"

All of Esme's anger seemed to fade from her, "It's more the fact that you didn't' tell either your father or I that you were going to cliff dive."

"In my defense…I didn't know until I arrived at McKenna's," I said, truthfully.

"Be that as it may be," Esme said, "you're still in trouble."

"I had a feeling I would be," I muttered darkly, walking into the house. I glared at Alice who was sitting innocently in the recliner.

"Did you expect me not to tell her?" Alice questioned, seeing my glare.

"You could have at least told her I'd live!" I snapped.

Esme said, "That is one detail you could have made sure of, Alice dear."

Alice nodded in reluctant agreement, "Okay, so I could have looked a bit further, but the last time I saw someone jump off a cliff, they almost did die!"

I didn't want to argue any further, considering I would probably have to face Carlisle's wrath when he got home from the hospital. So, to pass the time, I walked up the stairs and grabbed my latest read, _Warriors: The New Prophecy: Moonrise_ and began to read from where I left off: the six cats plummeting down the waterfall.

After an hour of reading I heard a knock on my door, and I tensed, throwing my book towards my bag, before my parents walked in.

Carlisle didn't look happy, but he didn't look near as furious as Esme had earlier.

He stated, "You're grounded for a week."

"But…" I tried to protest.

"No. I already know what you're going to say, and I understand that you didn't know, but that still doesn't excuse the fact that you went cliff diving without either of our permission. You could have called me at work, or you could have called here," Carlisle said.

"Would you be like this if I was a vampire?" I challenged, knowing it was a stupid move, but I was tired of being considered "fragile".

Esme said, "This has nothing to do with whether or not you were a vampire. You are a human. Meaning you're breakable. And though we've given you a lot of freedoms, jumping off a cliff without telling us isn't one of them."

"Understandable," I muttered.

Carlisle stroked the top of my head, "We just worry about you. You're the most precious thing to us."

"I get it," I said, still feeling slightly resentful. I knew they meant well.

"Just tell us next time," Carlisle said, winking.

I smiled broadly, "You mean I can cliff dive?"

They both nodded, and Esme asked, smiling, "Now how many parents let their kids do that?"

"If you live in La Push? A lot of them," I stated. "Forks, not so many."

The week flew by, though I was grounded, I was able to have fifteen minutes on the phone, which I took full advantage of, talking to McKenna.

Between us we set up a movie outing with Hiro and Josh, we were going to see _Secretariat_ since we were all horse racing fans. And we found that the cinema in town would be showing it on Sunday, the day I was released from my imprisonment.

Okay, so my grounding wasn't that boring. My siblings, even Alice, seemed to have made it their mission to keep me from being bored, be it finding me chores to do around the house, or secretly playing some games until Esme or Carlisle put a stop to it.

When Sunday night came, I was ecstatic. I hadn't been outside for the whole week, though the sunshine came right through the wall/window.

Waiting outside the cinema, I was starting to get anxious, neither Hiro, nor McKenna had shown up. This was making me anxious. My cell phone went off in my pocket and I pulled it out, "Hello?"

A cough greeted me, before a scratchy, squeaky voice said, "Sara? It's me, Hiro." I already knew what he was going to say before he said it, "I'm really sick, and I can't go to the movie with you guys. I'm sorry. I just thought I'd let you know."

"Thanks, Hiro," I said. Once he hung up, I sighed. So one down, but that didn't explain where McKenna was (she was closer to Forks then Josh, which is why I was worrying more about her then Josh).

"Hey!" I turned around, as someone called out to me. At least I thought they were calling to me. Josh jogged the rest of the distance between us and asked, "Where's Hiro?"

"Sick. Where's McKenna?" I questioned back.

"Sick," Josh stated, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

I understood his discomfort; it was just the two of us, very similar to a date.

"Shall we head inside?" He questioned, smiling slightly.

I nodded, not trusting my voice. Being alone with Josh made me realize that he was fairly tall, at least a head taller than I was, and he was well muscled, and handsome, and…what was I thinking? I didn't like Josh! Not in that way at least! Besides, I didn't want a boyfriend, did I?

Josh paid for the tickets, much to my displeasure. He refused to let me buy my own ticket even though I had enough money for it. Josh even paid for the movie snacks.

We entered the movie theater just as the movie started, as soon as we sat down, the lights turned off, and an electrical current began to flow between Josh and I. I tensed. This was not how I wanted to watch a movie. Josh was also tense next to me, obviously feeling the same electrical spark that I was. I tried to focus on the movie, after all, Secretariat was one of my all time favorite racehorses, but I just couldn't, the spark flying between us was too noticeable.

Once the credits came up, Josh and I walked out of the theater, Josh commented, "Well, that was an interesting movie. The most interesting I've been to in awhile."

"I think I know what you mean," I said, remembering the spark.

Josh said, "I see my ride, so I'll see you another time?"

"Of course," I said, seeing my father's black Mercedes and heading towards it.

Josh grabbed my arm, "I don't mean with Hiro and McKenna." His stormy grey eyes were intense.

"Um…I…We'll see," I said, purposely glancing at my father's car. "I have to think about. I'm not sure if I'm ready for a boyfriend."

"All right," Josh said reluctantly, releasing my arm. "Don't take too long to think about it, all right?"

"Sure," I said, before turning away from him and heading towards the Mercedes.

Carlisle said, once I got into the car, "Your mother and I would be perfectly fine with you dating someone."

_Stupid vampire hearing!_ I thought darkly. "Dad, this is Josh Ulley we're talking about."

"I know," he said as he pulled out into the street. "I just thought that would help you to decide."

The rest of the car ride was silent, Carlisle didn't push the subject. Once we got home I looked at the phone and sighed before I picked up the receiver and started dialing Josh's number…


	22. Chapter 21: Reason

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

It was a couple of days since Josh had asked me out, and that same night he had said that we couldn't date because his parents wouldn't let him. That was fine by me. McKenna on the other hand didn't.

She demanded, as she was whipping my butt in "Dance Dance Revolution" on the Play Station 2, "You accepted his answer?"

"Yes!" I panted, trying to keep up with the dance moves and failing miserably. I sighed in relief as the dance ended.

McKenna looked at the TV screen for a minute, "Hmmm…maybe we should have started with a dance that wasn't on such a difficult level."

"You think?" I gasped, in mock exhaustion, doubling over.

McKenna laughed, but her expression soon became serious, "But really though, I wouldn't have accepted that kind of answer from him. For all you know he's asked out every girl in La Push!"

"Did he ask you?" I queried.

"No."

I grinned mischievously, "Then he didn't ask every girl in La Push."

In response McKenna threw her pillow at me with all her might. I was surprised when the force it hit me with, knocked me over, but I attributed that to my legs being tired from the game.

McKenna smiled, "You really should be more worried about him saying no after he asked you out, but since you're not showing the proper concern…" She clenched her right hand into a fist and placed it over her heart, "I shall find the true reason as to why he said he couldn't date you!"

She looked so serious, and dedicated…that I couldn't help laughing. "What?" She questioned.

"You looked so serious that it looked funny," I stated.

McKenna rolled her eyes at me, "See what I mean? You aren't taking this seriously."

"Why should I?" I asked, "I mean, really? Not much would have come out of Josh and I dating apart from endless torment from my siblings…and I get enough of that already!"

I got a skeptical look in response, "You really don't care?"

"No," I stated. She continued to look skeptical, causing me to blush as I remembered the spark that had seemed to fly between Josh and I at the movie, "Okay, so maybe it did hurt a bit when he said he couldn't date me, but still, if his parents said no, then it's fine."

McKenna sighed, "I'm still going to investigate, usually if a guy says his parents have said no that means there's something else to it."

"How many boyfriends have you had?" I asked.

McKenna looked very dejected, "Three; and none of them were very good either." She glared at her bedroom door, "It didn't help that my mammoth of a dad scared them half out of their wits."

"Your dad is pretty tall," I said, sympathizing with her while trying not to imagine my own father, or for that matter, any of my brothers, if I ever brought a boyfriend home. "Granted," I added, "you're also pretty tall."

McKenna scoffed, "No I'm not!"

I gave her a skeptical look, and she admitted, "Okay, maybe I'm a bit taller than most girls, but I'm nowhere near as tall as my dad, or any of my uncles."

"Trust me, I know that," I said, laughing, "Remember, Jacob Black is my uncle as well."

McKenna said, "True, but he's in your family by marriage, and in mine through friendship…I'm glad you're sleeping over!" She randomly squealed with delight. "It's so nice to have a friend that's a girl!"

I nodded. I knew exactly what she meant, though I didn't think I would have squealed in delight like she did. At least I hoped that I wouldn't!

She grinned suddenly, "How about we continue our game?" I moaned in response.

I was so sore! Muscles hurt that I never knew could hurt! As we sat at the table in McKenna's house, she said, grinning evilly, "We should really do that again."

"I don't think so!" I stated, my pride was also hurt since McKenna had beaten me in every single level of "Dance Dance Revolution".

She continued to grin, "You were getting better at the end!"

This was true, but again, my pride had been hurt…just a little bit, "Maybe…"

McKenna suggested, "Maybe I could bring it to your house one day?"

I hated being placed in these types of situations. Since McKenna carried the genes of a werewolf, unless I somehow managed to kick out my entire family for a weekend, I wouldn't be able to invite her over due to the risk of her being so close to my family and activating her werewolf gene.

"Maybe," I said again, hoping she wouldn't read into it.

She didn't, "I'll have to sneak it in than!"

"My siblings would help you," I moaned, deciding it would be best not to dwell on the whole werewolf issue.

"Their help would be welcome," McKenna laughed.

I laughed with her, but for different reasons. For someone to say that my siblings help was welcome was like me saying Edward looked good in a tutu and Edward not threatening me in any way, shape, or form.

McKenna's mother, Claire said, as we were laughing, "It's good to see you two getting along so well!"

"Mom!" McKenna moaned.

"What?" Claire questioned, looking perplexed. "Am I not allowed to comment on anything anymore?"

McKenna said, "Not while my friends are here!"

Claire smiled and was about to say something else, when McKenna's father, Quil walked in, "What's the point of being parents if we can't embarrass you?"

"Dad!" McKenna exclaimed.

Quil laughed before ruffling her hair, McKenna grumbled and flattened it back in place. He sat down at the table and asked, "So how are the Cullens and the Blacks doing?"

His question took me by surprise, "Uh…my family is fine, both my immediate and Jacob & Nessie."

"What about Charlie and Billy?" Quil inquired.

"Um…" I tried to remember the last time I had seen either of them, "Last I knew…they were both happily fishing." This was true since the last time I saw them we were fishing." _Now that I think of it…I think I'm due to see Charlie sometime soon…usually Billy's with him when I go…_

Quil nodded, "That's good to here."

McKenna questioned, sounding annoyed with her father, "Are you done interrogating my ONLY GIRL friend about her family?"

"I think you woke up on the wrong…"

"Please don't finish that statement!" McKenna begged.

Quil sighed; making sure it was exaggerated before he asked me, "Do you do this to your father when you have friends over?"

"No," I answered honestly, "I do that to my brothers."

McKenna and Claire both laughed, and Quil smiled at that statement, "Well, that answered my question." He asked, much to McKenna's obvious annoyance, "What time is Jacob coming to pick you up?"

I glanced at the clock, "In a couple of hours, my parents wanted me home by eleven."

Before Quil could say anything else, McKenna begged, "Please! Please! Quit trying to scare away my friend!"

"You're not scared of me, now are you?" Quil asked, grinning, his look suggesting he was referring to more then just the conversation.

"Not really," I answered.

Quil grinned triumphantly at his daughter, "See? I'm not doing any harm."

McKenna rolled her eyes at him before asking, "Dad, would it be all right if sometime I spent the night at Sara's?"

I saw Quil's uneasy look before he hid it behind a grin, "I'll let you know when you ask with a definite date in mind!"

"You're impossible!" McKenna fumed.

"That I am," Quil said, grinning.

Jacob honked the horn as I grabbed my bags and opened the door, just as Jacob honked the horn again, "It's not my fault you're late!" I shouted.

McKenna laughed, "That's Jacob!" She added more seriously, "I'll call you later about Josh's REAL excuse for not going out with you."

"If it's because his parents' said no, you owe me five bucks," I stated.

She grinned and extended her hand, "You're on! If I'm right though, you owe ME five bucks!"

"Deal!" I said shaking her hand as Jacob laid on the horn, "I'm coming!"

Quil walked out of the house and followed me down the driveway to where Jacob was waiting, he said, in a serious voice, "Until we know for sure that McKenna didn't inherit my 'wonderful' genes, no sleepovers or her coming over to your household, understood?"

"Yes, sir," I said nodding. Didn't he think I already knew that?

Quil nodded, "I'll try to make sure she doesn't blame you if she get's impatient for a sleep over at your house, all right?"

"Thanks," I said, sighing in relief. One less thing for me to worry about!

Another horn blast sounded, so I sprinted towards the Rabbit, and hopped into the passenger seat and glared at Jacob. "IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU'RE LATE!" I put emphasis on each word.

"You still could have moved faster," Jacob grumbled, the car accelerating to a speed that I didn't want to look at; the trees speeding by gave me a good enough idea.

"Why do I need to be home by eleven again?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

Jacob shrugged, "I was hoping you could tell me that."

I sighed, "I hate being out of the loop."

"I feel that way a lot when dealing with the Cullens," Jacob muttered.

"Really?" I queried.

"Yeah, but it comes with having to keep so many secrets, at least they finally told you what they were and what I am," he stated.

I nodded, "I'm glad they told me that as well." I blinked in astonishment as Jacob pulled off to the side of the road, "What's going on?"

"Charlie," Jacob grumbled, "The ONE time he's on this road and I happen to be running late!"

"You mean we just got pulled over for your speeding?" I verified. Jacob gave a grunt in response.

A knock came from the window and Jacob reluctantly rolled it down. It was Charlie, most of his hair gone and what was left was gray, (he was retiring from the force in a year) "Jacob? Jacob! This is the second time this week!"

I tried not to laugh, but I didn't succeed, I ended up snorting, my body shaking with the barely contained laughter. Jacob shot me a nasty look, while Charlie said, "Is that Sara? It's good to see you! How have you been, kiddo?"

Charlie tended to act as if he were my grandfather, which was fine by me since my adoptive grandfather had technically died over three hundred years ago. I had no idea when Esme's father would have passed away and I didn't care to think about it.

"I've been good," I said smiling. Charlie was pretty easy to like.

Charlie smiled and turned a stern gaze on Jacob, "So what's your excuse for going two hundred and ten down the road?" I cringed. I knew that I wouldn't like how fast he had been going.

"I'm late in dropping her off at home," Jacob pointedly glanced at the clock in the car, "I'm currently ten minutes late, and I don't like dealing with angry parents."

Charlie shook his head back and forth, "Carlisle and Esme don't get that mad over such little things."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Jacob said, glancing at a black Mercedes that had just pulled off to the side on the other side of the road. Jacob sighed and said, gesturing to the Mercedes as my father stepped out of the car, "That's what I don't like dealing with!"

Carlisle looked relieved as he walked over and he sighed with relief, "I'm glad that nothing happened to either of you."

"I would have gotten her home if Charlie hadn't pulled me over," Jacob grumbled.

Charlie grunted, "Be happy I don't give you a ticket!"

"I'm happy about that!" Jacob said, smiling innocently.

Carlisle looked at me and said, "You can just come home with me and we'll let Jacob head home."

I got out of the car just as Charlie said, "You know I haven't seen her in awhile…"

"Of course we'll send her over soon," Carlisle said nodding at Charlie. Sometimes I wondered if Carlisle could read minds rather than Edward.

"Good," Charlie said beaming. He gave Jacob a stern look, "If I catch you speeding again, you WILL get a ticket!"

Jacob muttered something that sounded like, "That's what you said last time" but I wasn't sure.

Charlie waved goodbye to all of us before he slid into his cruiser and drove off. As Carlisle and I got into the car, Jacob drove off, doing the speed limit from what I could tell.

Carlisle asked as he did a U-turn, "Did you have fun at McKenna's?"

"Yeah," I answered, "But she really wants to come over…"

Carlisle smiled, much to my amazement, "Everyone wants to know what the famous 'Cullen House' looks like on the inside." His tone became serious, "But you know why we can't have McKenna or Josh over."

"I know…Quil said he'd take the brunt of her wrath with the coming over/sleepover issue," I told him.

"That's one thing that you don't have to worry about then," Carlisle said, smiling once again. He added, "When would you like to go fishing with Charlie and Billy?"

"Anytime's fine," I said, amazed that we were pulling into our driveway, "How fast were you going just now?"

"Faster then two hundred," Carlisle answered. "Your mother was getting worried."

As soon as he parked the car in the garage I leapt out, happy to have my feet on solid ground. Carlisle laughed softly as he got out of the car as well, "You would think that I had never driven a car that fast with how you act."

"Just because I ride in a fast moving car all the time doesn't mean I like the idea," I stated, heading towards the house. That brought a question to my mind, "Why did I have to be home so early anyway?"

"We're going to hunt, and we thought that you might like to come with," he answered.

I translated that into meaning camping, "Sure, I'm game! Wait…is Hiro coming with?"

"No. This summer is unusually sunny, we can't risk it. Perhaps the next time, later in the year," Carlisle said.

I glanced at the sky, it wasn't sunny, but it wasn't the usual overcast either. The sun was trying its hardest to shine through the thin layer of clouds. "Hiro's going to be upset that he missed out again."

"He'll get his chance to come along," Carlisle said, pulling me against his side. I sighed in contentment.

We walked in like that and I could hear the phone ringing in the dining room. Alice said, as she walked past, flipping through a fashion magazine, "You might want to get in there. It's McKenna."

"Already?" I questioned, before heading into the dining room just as Esme opened the dining room door.

"McKenna is on the phone," she said. "But Alice probably told you that already."

I nodded and headed towards the phone; Carlisle and Esme trailing after me. "Hello?"

"I know why Josh said he couldn't date you!" She practically shouted. I had to hold the phone away from my ear, and I could easily picture all of my siblings grinning in delight with their evil vampire hearing letting them hear every word she said.

"Why?" I questioned. Carlisle sat down and began flipping through the paper, and Esme wandered off into the kitchen. I wasn't sure if they were both still listening or not.

McKenna said, "Because he's giving Hiro a year to ask you out first!"

I'm not sure what my expression was, probably mortified, since I could hear Emmett's laughter from upstairs, along with Edward's. "Where did you hear this?" I demanded.

"Straight from the horse's mouth," McKenna stated. "Josh told me himself, but he forgot to tell me not to tell you."

"So…Hiro wants to ask me out?" I wanted to make sure I had this right.

"Sure seems like it," McKenna answered. "I guess Josh promised Hiro that he would give Hiro this year to ask you out before he asked you, but I guess he forgot temporarily."

My heart picked up its pace and I blushed, Carlisle turned, concerned at my increased heart rate, but I turned away. I didn't want him to see my blush as I recalled the spark that had flown between Josh and I at the movie, and I knew that that was the reason he had forgotten his promise.

The other end of the line was silent so I said quickly, "Thanks for finding this out, McKenna, now I know what to be aware of."

"You're welcome!" McKenna said brightly, "I'll talk to you another time. Bye!"

"Bye," I said, setting the receiver back on its base.

Carlisle didn't say anything to me, but I could tell he was still curious as to why my heart rate had increased. I really didn't want to tell him the reason though. I didn't think he'd understand. Knowing my good luck, his paternal instincts would kick in telling him to scare the crap out of one of the two boys that were both trying to win my affections.

Before I could exit the dining room though, Carlisle asked, "So what were you thinking when your heart rate increased."

I blushed, knowing that at the moment I thought the thoughts that were going through my head, Edward would hear them, and sure enough. Edward pushed open the dining room door and said, "Apparently, at the movies with Josh, they had a spark going between them."

I waited for Carlisle to say something, but I didn't hear anything. I moved to turn around when I felt a hand on my right shoulder, and Carlisle kissed my cheek. "You've got plenty of time to worry about love. Don't rush into anything."

"I won't," I promised, knowing that he was referring to the physical type of love.

I could still hear Emmett laughing, and it was coming from the living room now, "Do I have to go in there?"

"Not if you don't want to," Carlisle said, as Edward walked back into the living room, Emmett's laughter temporarily getting louder.

"I guess I'd better get it over with," I muttered, pushing open the door, ready for Emmett's teasing.


	23. Chapter 22: Favorite Brothers

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

As soon as I walked into the living room, Emmett said in a teasing tone, "So, you've got two boys trying to catch your attention…that's hard to believe!"

Rosalie glared at him, quickly silencing him, "It's not hard to believe at all! Sara is a very beautiful, young lady!" She turned her attention to me and winked, "You'll just have to make sure the boy's don't fight over you!"

I blushed, causing Emmett to burst into laughter again. Edward's laughter joined in from his position on the couch, "True, she is pretty, but her thoughts are the funniest to listen too!" He frowned as Bella walked down the stairs, before standing beside me. Edward growled, pretending to be angry, "That's not fair!"

Bella grinned, "You don't always have to hear what people are thinking." Edward snorted, but he didn't say anything to object to her statement.

"Thanks," I said softly, though I knew everyone within the house would hear anyway.

Bella smiled, "It's nothing. Some thoughts need to be private." She shot a quick glance at Edward, though I wasn't able to tell what sort of emotion went with it. Granted it might have been anger, since she sort of stalked towards him.

Alice came down the stairs just then, and she glanced at me, "When you see your friends again you're going to have some complications with them."

"Great," I muttered.

Jasper was right behind Alice, and he must have felt my feelings since a wave of contentment swept over me. "Jazz…" I didn't really want to complain, but I didn't want to feel content that I was being teased. "Please!"

The contentment swept away, and Jasper sighed, "You are very strange when it comes to our abilities."

"I know," I agreed.

As Alice sat on the floor, leaning against the couch's right arm, Jasper came to stand beside me, hugging me. Jasper was definitely my favorite brother! He chose not to make fun of me even though he had heard my phone conversation just like everybody else. "Are you excited about going camping?"

"Yeah," I answered, meaning it.

Jasper smiled, "Good…"

"Go get ready since we need to get going," Edward said, cutting Jasper off. Jasper glared at him, and I decided to get out of the line of fire that was bound to come. I headed towards the stairs, and I could hear the rush of whispered voices, though I couldn't hear what they were saying exactly; they were speaking to fast. _At least they're not shouting…_

Walking towards our camping site an hour later, Jasper and Edward kept shooting each other nasty looks. According to Rosalie, they had gotten into a "small quarrel" and well…now they weren't talking.

Esme said something softly in Carlisle's ear, but I didn't hear anything, and I was right next to both of them. Her expression was worried though; even Carlisle seemed a bit worried.

Emmett murmured to Rosalie, "I don't see what their problem is, it's not like I'm getting upset over…"

"Stop, it's different for those two, you know that," Rosalie scolded him gently.

"Still," Emmett grumbled.

Rosalie silenced him with a kiss, "They're not as laid back as you are."

I was totally and utterly perplexed. What could Edward and Jasper have said to each other and be angry with each other enough to not talk to each other, or for Emmett to feel a bit riled.

At the camp site, Edward bumped into Jasper as he was bringing in some firewood, and Jasper hissed at him, dropping into a threatening crouch, teeth bared. Before Edward could respond, Carlisle stepped between them, giving them both a meaningful look, at least to them, before he went back to pitching our own tent.

I frowned; this wasn't the type of camping trip I was used to. The tension in the air between Edward and Jasper could be cut with a knife. Maybe vampire fangs might be more obvious since they were very close to fighting.

Within the next few minutes as the tents were pitched, Jasper and Edward had several more close calls, with either Carlisle, Emmett, Alice, or Bella intervening.

After the seventh time, Carlisle snapped, a hint of a snarl in his voice, "You two are going to take a walk together," he pointed at me, "and you're going to go with them." I wondered what I had done to get in trouble with my two brothers. "You are all going to sort this out…Go!"

I led the way, reluctantly; Jasper a foot or two back to my right, Edward mirroring him on my left.

We walked, and walked, and trudged (on my part) for several minutes, none of us saying a word. I kept hoping that my two brothers would put aside their pride and break the silence, but apparently they would rather face Carlisle's wrath rather then talk to each other.

I stopped, and turned to face both of them, "What's the matter with you two? You both act like the other has, well…done something terrible!" I couldn't think of anything that a vampire could do to another to insult one.

Edward smiled slightly, but it quickly faded. He glanced at Jasper, "Do you want to explain?"

"I might as well, since I'm 'the source' of the problem," Jasper said, bitingly. Edward's gaze became cold and hard, but he didn't say anything. "I guess we are two brothers that know who your favorite brother is already…that doesn't mean we have to be happy with it though." He shot Edward another scathing glance.

Edward growled, "If you don't like it…"

"Don't fight!" I begged, stepping between the two vampires. Which, in retrospect, wasn't exactly the greatest idea; Jasper had already lunged forward, and I felt my arm start to bend in a way it shouldn't. He stopped his lunge immediately, having felt my arm against his stomach and backed off, looking horrified.

"Are you all right?" He asked anxiously.

I moved my arm experimentally and sighed in relief. Nothing was wrong with it. If anything, it would just be very swore in the morning.

Edward said, sounding smug, "Now you know why I'm her favorite!"

A growl rumbled in Jasper's chest, but he didn't move, obviously afraid that he'd hurt me if he did.

I'd had enough of their fighting, "Right now, neither of you are my favorite!" I stormed away from my two startled brothers. I didn't even care if I had hurt their feelings, if they were going to act like that, they could rip the other into vampire pieces for all I cared.

Alice and Bella were waiting anxiously on the edge of our campsite and I just stormed past them. I wasn't in the mood to tell them how idiotic their mates were.

I crawled into the tent I shared with Esme and Carlisle, glad that neither of them were there. I wanted to be alone, away from my two fighting brothers, and the rest of the family that would try to tell me that everything was okay. I felt a tear make a trail down my cheek; I hadn't realized just how much my brothers fighting upset me. The tears wouldn't stop coming after that first one had formed a path for others to follow. I pulled my knees close to my chest, and pressed my head against my knees, letting the silent tears fall.

I heard the zipper to the entrance and figured that Carlisle or Esme had returned from whatever activity they had been doing. I didn't bother to look up, I just continued to cry.

A peaceful feeling began to creep through me and I lifted my head, surprised to see Jasper and Edward sitting on either side of me.

"What?" I demanded, still angry with them, though it was hard to be angry with Jasper messing with my emotions.

They glanced at each other before saying in perfect unison, "We're sorry."

"No you're not," I muttered, still trying to be angry. I was starting to fail though.

"Should we explain how our argument came about?" Edward suggested.

Jasper nodded, "Maybe then she'll settle our dispute once and for all."

I was no longer angry, nor was I exactly content either…I was more or less confused.

Edward gave a slight nod to Jasper who started off by saying, "When you were younger, maybe four or five, you always loved being around me more than the others." I wasn't sure where this was going. "As you got older, Edward suddenly became your favorite brother, which bothered me, and it still does…"

Emmett poked his head in just then, his muscular bulk would not be able to fit in the tent with the three of us, "I still say you guys are a nut for worrying about who's her favorite brother."

Edward sighed, "Unlike, Emmett, Jasper and I won't be content until you tell us who's your favorite."

"You're both idiots," I muttered. Emmett burst out laughing, while Edward and Jasper both had expressions between bewilderment and being insulted. I looked at all three of my brothers before I spoke, "I may hang out with one or the other more because you ALL have different agendas, but you're ALL my favorite brother for different reasons…which I'll keep to myself!"

Edward sighed, "I hate it when that happens." I couldn't help smiling. That meant my weird ability had kicked in.

"So…does that answer your question?" I asked.

Emmett looked affronted, "I didn't care!"

"Yes you did, otherwise you wouldn't have poked your head in here!" I countered. I ended up being pulled into one of my teddy bear of a brother's, bone crushing hugs.

"Help!" I begged Edward and Jasper, laughing slightly.

Carlisle and Esme arrived, to find me under a brother dog pile, with Rosalie, Bella, and Alice helping my three brothers off of me.

Carlisle scolded them, though his tone was light, "Are you trying to kill your sister? That's one way to do it!"

"We would never!" Emmett said indignantly as he stood up, pulling me into another bone crushing bear hug, "See? We adore her!"

Esme said, "Would you let her go so she doesn't have any cracked ribs?"

I was mercifully released, and I sighed in relief, happy that things seemed to be back to normal… Who would have thought I would ever consider living with vampires normal?


	24. Chapter 23: Complications

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Sitting around the campfire, later in the evening, I sat on the ground closest to the fire, Carlisle and Esme sitting behind me on a log Carlisle had carried over. Esme had gone hunting earlier, and the others were out hunting now. Carlisle was the only one who hadn't hunted.

"Dad," I said, my teeth chattering, so I scooted closer to the fire, "You don't have to stay here, you could go hunting."

Carlisle stood up and went into the tent without answering me. I stared after him, wondering if he was ignoring me…which was not like him at all. He came back out of the tent, a blanket in hand. Tenderly, he placed the blanket on my shoulders and said, "I'll be fine until the morning." His eyes, which were entirely black apart from a thin glint of gold around them, said otherwise.

He placed a gentle kiss on my cheek, "I'm fine, I promise. If it will make you feel better, I'll go hunt before you wake up."

"Thanks, Dad," I said, kissing his cheek.

Esme said, as Carlisle sat back down, "You should go inside the tent soon, since it's gotten unseasonably cold."

"I will," I promised, drawing the blanket closer.

Carlisle said, "You'll be alone in the tent tonight."

"Why?" I questioned, enjoying the warmth from the fire and blanket.

Carlisle and Esme exchanged a glance that said I should already know the reason, "We'd only make you colder, and that's not what you need."

I had to admit, that was true, I didn't need to get any colder. I asked, "Can you at least sit in tent?" I know, I was acting like a little kid, but family traditions are hard to shake.

"One of us can sit in there with you," Esme said, smiling. "But you really should go to bed."

"All right," I conceded, crawling into the tent, Carlisle followed. "Are you sure?" I questioned, looking back at him.

"Positive," Carlisle said, smiling again. He zipped up the tent entranced, while I crawled into my sleeping bag, reveling in the warmth.

"Dad?" I said quietly, though I knew he would hear.

"Yes?" He questioned, glancing at me.

I just had to make sure for the final time, before I went to sleep, "Are you sure you're okay? Especially now that…"

"We're in an enclosed space," Carlisle finished. "I'm okay. If I can be starving for blood and have you waving a deep paper cut in my face saying 'it bit me', I think I can handle this."

"I don't remember that!" I stated, sitting up. "How old was I?"

"Three," Carlisle said, smiling at the memory. "I hadn't wanted to go hunting since you were still ill from a bout of the flu." His tone illustrated just how panicked he had been, "Your fever had gotten so high that I had considered taking you to the hospital, but your fever eventually went down. I hadn't realized just how much better you had gotten… You started to draw several pictures for your mother and I, and you said, later, that you had been flipping through the pages and that one of them 'bit you', referring to your paper cut. When you first said 'it bit me' I asked what could bite you? You said it again, and I asked the same question, which you responded by showing me your cut finger…"

"I wasn't a very smart kid," I muttered, embarrassed.

Carlisle reached out and brushed my bangs away from my face, "You were young."

"Still…" I had to ask my next question, just to be sure, "Did you almost lose control?"

He was silent for several minutes, the time dragging, he finally nodded, "I had never been so thirsty before with you bleeding, but I managed to keep myself in control…"

"How?" I asked quietly.

His smile returned, "By remembering that you're my daughter and how much I loved you…just like I still love you."

"I love you too, Dad," I said, curling up in my sleeping bag again. Relieved slightly in knowing that my father had full control over his thirst."

Two days later, having just returned from our camping trip, there were four messages on the answering machine. Carlisle browsed through the caller ID, and turned to me, "They're all for you."

I smacked my forehead, "I forgot to tell everyone I was going camping. They must all think I've been kidnapped or something!"

"I doubt that," Carlisle said, leaving the dining room, trying to give me some privacy.

I knew there was no such thing as privacy in a house full of vampires with super-sensitive hearing, but the gesture was appreciated. I hit the play button on the answering machine, and McKenna's voice greeted me:_ "Hi…uh…just wondering…uh no, um…when Sara get's back in just have her call me back. Thanks!"_

I smiled. I was glad I wasn't the only one to have trouble talking to an answering machine. The next message started to play; the message from Josh this time: _"Hello, McKenna asked me to call, apparently it's something important that she wants Sara to call her about, just have her give McKenna a call when she gets back."_

Josh made me feel like an idiot with answering machines. He was so cool and composed. The next message was also from him, _"This is Josh, again, just wondering if…if Sara would like to hang out with Hiro, McKenna and I Wednesday night of next week…we thought we'd go see __Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1__. If she could just call me back whenever she's in…"_

After that message, I didn't feel so bad, obviously Josh had his moments. The last message was from Hiro: _"Um…Sara…Please call both McKenna and Josh back, they're both worried that you've been abducted or that you're really sick…so…um…please call them back..."_

I sighed; and picked up the phone, dialing McKenna's number since she had called first. The phone didn't even get in a complete ring when it was picked up, "Where have you been?" McKenna shouted into the phone.

There were days that I really hated caller ID, "I can't hear anymore…" I grumbled into the phone.

"I would say I'm sorry, but…" McKenna trailed off, obviously upset that I hadn't called her sooner.

"McKenna, I was out camping, there was no way I could call you," I defended myself.

"You were…oh!" McKenna had been about to go on a tirade. "Well, I guess that's a valid excuse… But I have important news to tell you!" Apparently, I had been forgiven. "A boy that I really liked has just asked me out…"

I cringed. Boys were not my favorite subject, especially with the whole Hiro and Josh thing. But I listened attentively as she gushed about the guy who had asked her out…she was really giddy about the whole situation, and I ended up being on the phone with her for an hour.

Next, I called Josh, half hoping he wouldn't be home, but I had no such luck. "Hello?"

"Hey, Josh, this is Sara," I said, feeling awkward.

Josh said, "What happened with you? We were all thinking about calling the police or the hospital soon."

"I was camping with my family," I answered. "Is the offer still open for Wednesday?"

"Yep. I…uh…I mean, we were hoping you'd come," Josh said, obviously feeling awkward as he finished, "See you then. Bye." He hung up before I could say anything else.

Knowing that Hiro would want a phone call, I dialed his number and the phone was immediately picked up on his end. His tone was accusatory, "You were camping weren't you?"

"I would have called, but my dad said it was too short of notice," I stated.

Hiro whined, "Nothing is too short of notice in the summer!"

"My dad promised that next time you're definitely coming with," I said, hoping to calm him down.

It worked, "Really?" He almost squeaked with excitement. I had to smile. It was one of the many qualities I liked about Hiro…but not in that way!

"Are you coming to the movies Wednesday?" Hiro asked.

"_Harry Potter_?" I asked, smiling. "You bet I am!"

Wednesday came along without anything interesting really happening. Rosalie drove me to the theater, and I waited in the lobby for the others to arrive. I sighed in relief when McKenna arrived. This movie outing wasn't going to be like the last, thank God! Josh arrived a few minutes after she did.

Josh said, "Hiro will be here in a few minutes, he's running late."

"We'll just chit chat for awhile then," McKenna said, smiling. It became very fiendish, "So when will we get to see your house, Sara?"

My blood turned to ice. This was the question I had been dreading, and no one was here to help me out, either. I prayed that I could bluff my way through this one, "Not anytime soon...Edward just got a nasty fever and my Dad doesn't want me to bring any friends over, I already tried."

They bought it…until a silver Volvo pulled up. At that moment I REALLY wanted to annihilate Edward.

He stepped out of the car, obviously not reading my mind yet, and said, handing me a cell phone, "Rosalie said you left this in…her…car…" He finally caught my thoughts.

McKenna said, "I thought you said Edward was sick."

"How could you confuse me with Jasper?" Edward said, aghast, looking at me like I was insane. This was one of those rare moments when I was ecstatic that he could read minds.

Josh and McKenna visibly relaxed, as I said, my cheeks blushing, "You and Jasper look a lot alike, okay?"

"I'm definitely not picking you up later, now," Edward said indignantly, stalking towards his car.

"That's fine by me!" I said.

As soon as the silver Volvo was gone, McKenna said, blushing, "Your brother is hot! Too bad he's already taken."

"McKenna!" Josh and I shouted in perfect unison.

"What?" McKenna said indignantly, "Just because I'm dating doesn't mean I can't admire hot guys!"

"Hot is not a word I'd use to describe my brother," I grumbled.

"Well, duh! He's your brother," McKenna said, slyly. "So…is Jasper hot too?"

I shoved her good-naturedly; happy to have gotten out of the awkward situation they had put me in. Hiro arrived as McKenna shoved me roughly into Josh, who kept me from falling.

"Sorry I'm late," Hiro said, shooting a, uncharacteristic, nasty look towards Josh, "The car was giving us trouble. Shall we get the tickets and head in?"

"Sure," Josh said. Apparently unaware of the look Hiro had given him.

McKenna, on the other hand, wasn't. She came up beside me as we got in line to buy tickets and whispered, "Looks like Hiro's jealous of you and Josh."

"But there's nothing going on between us!" I whispered back.

"Tell that to Hiro," she stated, pulling away as Josh handed her her ticket.

I accepted mine without looking at him, muttering my thanks. I didn't want to lose either friend over something stupid as who got to date me!


	25. Chapter 24: Something Wicked

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

As all good things go…summer ended…bringing with it the return of school and math, blah! Over the summer, though things had been strained between Hiro and Josh, they seemed to get over it; at least Hiro seemed to get over it. McKenna and I firmly believe that Josh was utterly clueless that Hiro was acting hostile towards him.

Josh and McKenna wouldn't start school until a week after Forks High School started…lucky! While they got to enjoy the last cloudy days of their summer vacation, Hiro and I would be locked in classrooms with teachers who are intent on making teenagers cry…

So, to say the least, my mind wasn't on Carlisle's lesson on _Isaiah: 42_, he read, "_The Lord says, "Here is my servant, whom I strengthen—the one I have chosen, with whom I am,"_ not pleased," his tone changed to irritation at the end, and I figured that I had been caught not paying attention.

"Sorry," I murmured, not exactly sorry. I didn't understand why I had to learn all of this when A) We didn't go to church, B) none of my siblings had ever had to go through this, and C) I, quite frankly, didn't care.

I must have had a tone in my voice, since he closed the _Bible_ and said, "Tell me what's on your mind."

"Why do I have to learn this?" I demanded, the stress from the impending start of my Sophomore year getting to me. "None of the others have, so why should I?" I decided to add, as an afterthought, "We don't even go to church!"

Carlisle nodded in agreement with everything I said, my annoyance disappeared like a wisp of smoke. He said, "You're right on all of those points. However, I have reasons for all of them." I waited patiently for him to continue, "I can't force any of your siblings to learn from the _Bible_ because they are, and were when I changed most of them, to already have their own opinions on religion. As for going to church, how odd would it seem if only you, Esme, and I walked into church without the others in tow?" All right, he had a point there. "As for why you have to learn it…I want you to at least understand that this is something that I believe in, that if ever, we were…"

"Don't say it!" I interrupted, not wanting to even picture my family gone in a fiery column.

"If ever…something were to happen," Carlisle reworded, "I want you to…I would like you to believe we're in a better place. Understand?"

"Yeah," I muttered. Just because I understood didn't mean I was thrilled with the idea.

Carlisle seemed a little put out by my lack of enthusiasm. He stood up, picking up the _Bible_, "I think we'll end our lesson for today."

"Dad…" He had that one that said he was upset. "It's not that I don't believe it's just…I don't see why I have to learn this EVERY week… Plus, school starts tomorrow…my mind's just not on the lesson."

He paused as he reached the door, "How about this then…you'll have a lesson every two weeks. Sound fair?"

"Sounds fair to me," I answered, smiling. Carlisle pushed open the door to his office, "And, Dad, thank you."

"You're welcome," Carlisle said, holding the door open for me, "now, I need to get a bit of work done…I brought a bit of it home today."

I stood up and walked towards the door, detouring to hug my father before I left his office, the door closing softly behind me.

Heading to my room, I walked over to my bookshelf and pulled out my _Bible_ and started to read the passage that Carlisle had started reading.

Somehow, I had managed to fall asleep, reading more in the _Bible_ than just the one passage. I assumed Carlisle had checked on me sometime during the night, which explained why I was under the covers. A gentle shake of my shoulder was enough to wake me up. I blinked groggily, and saw my mother's face, "Good morning, sweetheart." She kissed my forehead, "It's time to get up so you're ready for your first day of school."

"Can't I be home schooled?" I asked, rhetorically. Esme laughed softly as she left my room.

My bedroom door had barely closed when Alice danced in, her eyes full of determination, "You're going to be the best dressed girl today whether you like it or not!"

_Why me?_ I wondered silently. This was just too cruel. It was bad enough I had school…

I came down the stairs for breakfast looking like a very large Barbie doll. My hair had been done in a French braid, my fingernails had been painted a light blue, I wore a navy blue dress, and navy blue heels that I had trouble walking in.

Emmett started to snort, trying to contain his laughter, but he failed miserably. I glared at him as did Rosalie and Bella. Edward was smart enough to keep playing the piano, the soft music calming me down a bit…or maybe that was Jasper, but I really didn't care what was responsible! I stomped into the dining room and slumped into my seat, crossing my arms over my chest like a little kid, but I didn't really care, I was ticked.

Carlisle glanced up from the newspaper and he said quietly, "You'll have to deal with it for today, I couldn't stop her."

"Why am I her personal doll?" I questioned.

Esme walked in just then, and she set my breakfast of a bacon and cheddar cheese omelet in front of me, "She didn't get to do a lot of…normal things when she was human, so let her enjoy herself."

"Why can't we just get her a mannequin and be done with it?" I questioned. I grinned evilly, "I know what I'm getting her for Christmas!"

Esme said, "Good luck convincing Alice that you and the mannequin are the same sort of fun."

She had me there, but I would not be brought down from my little realm of possibility that a mannequin might, MIGHT detour Alice from her obsession of dressing me up like a doll.

Carlisle set down the paper and glanced at the clock, "You need to move a bit faster, otherwise you'll be late."

"With how fast you drive?" I questioned, inhaling the last of my omelet.

He smiled, "I thought you didn't like it when I drove fast."

"It has its ups and downs," I said, going into the kitchen to rinse off my utensils. I could hear Carlisle's laughter as I rinsed them off.

Walking back into the dining room, he held open the door for me, "Go brush your teeth."

I nodded and darted through the door, taking the steps two at a time.

As Carlisle brought the car to a stop, I gazed at Forks High School…nothing was really different about it, being a Sophomore didn't miraculously make it look better or make it feel any safer. I sighed loudly.

Carlisle kissed my cheek and said, "Try to have a good day. You can always call McKenna and complain to her later, or you can complain to your mother and I."

"I know…and thanks, Dad," I said, smiling, kissing his cheek. I opened the car door and said, before I shut it, "Love you!"

That was enough to bring a smile to his face. This was a stark difference to the year before.

As he drove away, a voice calling my name caught my attention. I turned around, smiling, knowing it was Hiro, even before he managed to squeeze his way through the crowd between us, "Sara! Are you ready for our first day?"

I didn't answer him right away as we weaved our way towards the front doors, "No, not really, but do we have much of a choice?" Shoving the doors open, I was surprised at how relaxed I felt…maybe it was because I had been able to pick more of my electives this year than the last.

Sitting in Art II, my first class of the day (I had taken Art I the year before), it felt nice to know that I didn't have to learn about gesture drawing, or contour drawing, or anything to do with drawing! This year was all about paints from water to oil. Painting was a media I was really interested in, but it didn't surprise me when the teacher did the usual syllabus.

My second class of the day was P.E., Hiro happened to be in the same hour class as I was, but it was a rarity for the boys and girls' classes to be together. Another class that just went through the syllabus and rules… my third period class, Biology II did the same, as well as my fourth period class, Algebra II, another class I had with Hiro.

Mercifully, lunch finally came; Hiro and I grabbed our trays with hamburgers, French fries, baked beans, and strawberries to a table and sat down. Hiro said past a mouthful of burger, "All of my classes are boring! What about yours?"

"Most of them sound like they'll be boring, only Art II sounds really interesting at the moment," I answered, munching on my French fries.

"None of mine have sounded interesting yet," he whined. Hiro perked up a bit though, "I'm hoping Wood Working is interesting, on the course description it sounded interesting at least!"

I tried not to picture clumsy Hiro with a saw or sharp object of any sort, fearing for his life. I kept my opinion of him taking Wood Working to myself.

"Any of your remaining classes sound interesting?" Hiro asked.

I had to think about that for a bit. My remaining classes were: American Literature I, Chemistry, English II, and a Study Hall. "Study Hall sounded interesting," I finally answered.

Hiro nearly off over backwards out of his seat from my response, "Are you serious?"

I laughed, "Yes, none of my other one's sounded interesting, really."

Hiro sighed, "Only you would think of a response like that."

"Yep!" I grinned.

The rest of my classes sounded boring, just like I had figured. Even Study Hall sounded boring when the teacher described it! The only good thing was that Hiro was in my English II class.

As Hiro and I left the school at the end of the day, the sun was shining brightly, much to Hiro's disappointment.

He whined, "I really wanted to ride in the Turbo!"

I sighed. Sometimes Hiro could be very childish. I teased him, "Do you want me to walk you home?"

"Huh?" Hiro glanced at me like I was nuts.

"You know," I said slyly, "because of those dogs!"

Hiro grinned, "Nah, they haven't been around recently."

"Good," I said, smiling. "Then I'm heading home."

"See ya tomorrow," Hiro said waving, heading towards the road. I decided to take a different route, cutting through the forest that bordered half of our school.

As I walked, I started to get jumpy. The forest was quiet…too quiet. No birds sang…there wasn't even the usual rustle of leaves, hinting at squirrels and other small mammals movements. I picked up my pace, starting to jog. I desperately wanted to get out of the woods now. A sound off to my right caused me to jump, midstride. Once I had recovered, I took off at a sprint, desperate to reach a road, or anything that showed there was civilization. Something was in this forest. Something that wasn't supposed to be there, something that was a predator…

I didn't stop running, though my pace slowed, I didn't stop till I reached the safety of our porch. I staggered into the house, sweat dripping off me in small streams, at least that's how it felt. My breath came out of my body in ragged wheezes. I had eight vampires instantly crowding me.

"What happened?" My mother asked, worriedly. Her cold hand was welcome against my hot cheek.

Carlisle said, "Let her catch her breath first." My attention went straight to him since he had a water bottle in his hand. I gratefully took it and sipped at it, not wanting a stomach ache from drinking it too quickly.

After a few minutes I recovered enough to say, "Woods near school…something in there…not usually there…"

Carlisle nodded, and Jasper and Emmett maneuvered easily around me and out the door towards my school.

Rosalie walked forward and scooped me up, cradling me against her chest, before she sat on the couch, stroking my hair, which was plastered to my forehead, pushing my dripping bangs away from my eyes. I pressed my head against her chest, enjoying the coldness of her skin.

Emmett and Jasper didn't take long in getting back. Emmett said, "Bad news…"

"There was a vampire following her," Jasper finished. There was a sharp intake of breath from all of my family. Jasper continued speaking, "From the way its scent followed her trail, it was waiting for her to fall over by either tripping over something in the forest, or from exhaustion. It didn't follow her when she reached the road, veering off instead."

Emmett concluded, "It's not a scent either of us were familiar with."

Bella left the room then; Edward called after her, "What are you doing?"

"Calling Jacob!" Bella shouted, worry evident in her voice.

I asked, "Why Jacob?"

Alice answered, "Jacob and his pack can follow you, or take you and Hiro home when we can't. A vampire in the area that I didn't know about…" She trailed off, obviously upset.

Carlisle tried to sooth her, "Alice, you can't expect…"

"I should see things like this!" Alice snapped angrily.

Bella walked back in from the kitchen then, "Alice, Jacob just told me Seth was following a vampire's scent…that's probably why you didn't see anything."

"Dumb mutts," Alice grumbled.

Rosalie nodded in agreement, "They're always in the way."

"Now hold on," Bella started to say.

Carlisle quickly interceded before the argument could get ugly, "The wolves have helped us in the past and we can work with them again with this new threat. All right?" Everyone nodded. "Good." Carlisle looked at me, "You need to get more fluids in your system." He picked me up out of Rosalie's arms and carried me into the dining room.

I complained as he set me down in his usual spot, "I could have walked."

"You need to regain your strength," Carlisle stated heading into the kitchen and emerging a moment later with a bottle of Gatorade.

Once he had set it down on the table he said, "Why don't you calm yourself by calling McKenna? I'm sure she'd love to talk to you."

I had a feeling it was a way to distract me from not eavesdropping as they discussed what to do about this new threat.

As I dialed McKenna's number I had no idea that the discussion we had that evening would be the last I would hear from her for a while…


	26. Chapter 25: Addition

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

School dragged on and on, but that was because McKenna never called, nor did she return my calls, even when I invited her for my birthday, and when I asked her if she was all right… Her dad would answer the phone every now and then, telling me that McKenna had Mono, but after awhile he just stopped picking up the phone even McKenna's mom seemed to get tired of my calls.

Sitting in the Italian restaurant in Port Angeles (Josh had gotten his license in the summer without telling us), Hiro was also there and we were all trying to solve the mystery of McKenna's apparent disappearance. There was no way she was sick. Josh had seen her hanging out with two boys that were risk takers, jumping from the highest cliffs when they cliff dived. McKenna no longer went to school either, and Josh had heard around his school that McKenna had dumped her boyfriend.

Hiro suddenly slammed his hands against the table, "Argh! This is giving me a headache! Can't we just TALK to McKenna?"

"Tried," Josh said dejectedly. "She avoids me like I'm the plague every time I get close to her."

"Why this sudden change though?" I asked, looking at both of them.

Josh shrugged, "Maybe those two guys forced her into their group…I don't know."

"But McKenna's stronger than that," I pointed out.

Josh snapped, "I know!" He looked away and muttered, "Sorry…I'm just worried about her…we've been best friends since we were kids."

Hiro and I exchanged a quick glance. Josh wasn't one to voice his worries unless he believed something was seriously wrong. Now we knew that we had to figure out what was wrong with McKenna.

The waitress brought our orders, but we all ended up only eating a few bites, missing our bubbly friend's company. A month apart hadn't eased the pain of her abandoning us.

At home wasn't much better for me, unlike Hiro or Josh who could find some happiness when they got home, I only found the same stress. The vampire that had hunted me that one day, a month ago, had been hanging around. This vampire hadn't killed anyone nearby yet…but we all knew it was only a matter of time.

Jacob's pack was constantly on alert; I would sometimes glimpse their eyes in the forest surrounding my school, or catch a glimpse of fur as our car flew past the forest. Even their sensitive noses couldn't completely track the vampire. This vampire was tricky, doubling back on its own trail or leaping into trees so the wolves lost its scent.

Someone was always missing from the house now, keeping an eye on Bella's father, Charlie, and someone was always at Hiro's house, watching out for him and his family.

As I walked in, Esme said, seeing my expression, "McKenna still hasn't talked to any of you?"

"No, Mom," I answered, glad when she embraced me.

She kissed the top of my head, "I know this is hard on you, with McKenna not talking to you and this vampire, but things will get better soon."

I closed my eyes. It would be so easy to believe her, but after a month of being unable to catch the vampire it didn't seem like things would ever return to normalcy.

"Where's Dad?" I questioned, pulling away from her embrace.

Esme answered, "He's watching Hiro's house tonight."

I closed my eyes. Reality was just too cruel sometimes. Esme brushed my bangs out of my eyes in sympathy. "Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest? Things will look better in the morning."

"Sure," I answered. That was a statement I heard every night and no matter how many times I heard it, things never did look better.

I collapsed onto my bed, not bothering to change into my pajamas. Though I wasn't one for praying I closed my eyes, _Lord…please…if you can hear me…help me to figure out what's going on with McKenna and help my family and Jacob's pack to find that vampire. Please…!_ I really didn't expect my prayer to be answered though!

At school, the next day, I was sitting in Algebra II, staring out the window at the forest, not really paying attention to the lesson, which I knew would come back to haunt me later. I was thinking of the last conversation McKenna and I had that one night…

_"Hey! So…how awful was your first day of school?" McKenna teased over the phone._

_I made a face, even though I knew she couldn't see me, "Terrible! The only class that sounds interesting is Art II!"_

_"What Algebra II doesn't interest you?" She asked in mock horror._

_"Are you crazy?" I shouted, horrified. "Math and I are age old enemies!"_

_McKenna burst into laugher, "Same here! All those numbers!"_

_"Yep, and all those formulas!" I groaned._

_McKenna laughed, "Just wait till my school's back in session I'll be calling you every night for help with my math homework…!"_

_What was that?_ I stared at the forest intently now. Something had moved out there; something that didn't fit in with the usual scenery. A flash of red and white caught my attention, and I watched as it slid to a halt, whatever it was. It crept forward until it was at the edge of the forest, and then it poked its head out into the rare sunshine.

It was a wolf. The top of its body was a deep burgundy, while snow white fur started on its lower jaw. I assumed that it had a white underbelly. As strange as this wolf was, (I knew that it had to be from either Jacob's or Sam's pack) its unique fur wasn't its most striking feature. It looked…delicate…yet powerful. Its ears were pricked for sound and its eyes…its light blue eyes stared right back at me intensely. I couldn't pull my gaze away from those intense eyes. It was like this wolf was trying to tell me something…something important.

"Ms. Cullen!" My teacher's voice snapped my attention back to the classroom.

"Um…" I glanced at the problem on the board and guessed, "Four?"

"You're very lucky," my Algebra II teacher grunted before going back to the lesson. Sometimes you just had to love dumb luck.

I quickly looked at the window again, but the wolf was gone. I decided to glare at the teacher for the rest of the period to pass the time.

After fourth period, I was sitting in the lunch room with Hiro, who was having one of his perceptive days.

"What were you staring at in Algebra?" He asked past his pizza slice.

I debated with myself. Tell him the truth and freak him out or lie… Lie. "I was bored out of my mind, so I was just admiring the scenery."

Hiro wasn't convinced, "Yeah right. You were staring at something, not looking half dazed like you usually do when you're in La La Land."

"I thought I saw something," I murmured. "I thought I saw…a large dog."

"Maybe it got loose," Hiro commented.

I nodded, "Maybe. I just thought it looked interesting…like a Malamute."

"They are pretty common around here," Hiro said.

I was glad that his perception seemed to have left him, "Someone must be missing it pretty badly. It was very beautiful."

Hiro nodded absently mindedly. Something was obviously on his mind.

"Hiro, what's up?" I asked.

He started, "Huh? Nothing!"

I decided to let the subject drop. I had a bad feeling I knew what was on his mind. Needless to say, I was glad when the bell rang, signifying that lunch was over. I didn't miss the disappointed look on his face. He had definitely been trying to get up the courage to ask me out and I wasn't ready for that question yet.

At my locker after school, I checked my new cell phone for any messages. Since the vampire had been hanging around the area, my parents had decided that I needed one. I saw that I had one message and hit the send button, Carlisle's voice greeting me:

_"Sara, you're going to have to walk home today. Do not go into the forest, stay to the main road. We're positive that the vampire isn't near your school. Jacob and Seth are tracking it right now. I'll see you when I get home. Love you."_

That was somewhat comforting. The message had been sent a few minutes ago, so if Jacob and Seth were on its trail I had nothing to fear. Hiro asked, as we headed out, "We're not being picked up, are we?"

"Not today," I answered. "I'll see you tomorrow, Hiro."

"Yeah, see ya!" He said.

Sticking to the main road was easy, and it helped that the wildlife was still making its usual noises, so I knew that the vampire wasn't in the area. My walk was very uneventful, until I got closer to home…

I could see the driveway from several yards down the road, and I was ecstatic to see it. I had been paranoid the whole way every time there had been a lapse in the bird song. I paused as a figure stepped out into the roadway halfway between where I was and the driveway. The figure looked like Edward, so I continued to walk, thinking he had come out to wait for me, hearing my approach. The birds had stopped singing but it made sense, I vampire was in the area. I glanced at the woods across the way, doing a double take. I could have sworn that a red and white shape had moved in the trees. I decided to ignore it, though, assuming it was my imagination.

I was only several feet away from my brother when I froze. He had turned to look at me and his eyes were most definitely not golden brown. They were red. This vampire was also taller than Edward, and his features were more like that of a predator, but he was still beautiful.

His voice was velvety, but it sent chills down my spine, "I've been waiting for you to be on your own. I've been wanting to see the Cullens' pet." I remained silent as he approached me slowly. "My coven has heard a lot about the Cullens, and how they stood up to the Voltouri, truly amazing, really. I would have thought they would be fiercer though, they've disappointed me, as have their mutts. I've found this experience quite boring really."

He had a southern accent, my mind managed to register that as it raced around in my head, trying to figure out what I should do. Jasper had taught me how to deal with newborns, not an experienced vampire.

He breathed in deeply, "I can smell your fear…it's about the only thing that excites me right about now. Perhaps I should just kill you now and be done with it, obviously the Cullens are nothing compared to my coven… I think I will end your life now…maybe that will be enough to draw out their fighting spirit." He stepped towards me but he stopped as a growl sounded from the trees.

We both turned our heads, startled. Relief shot through me as the red and white wolf stepped from the trees, lips drawn back to reveal its glistening canines.

I expected him to turn and run. After all, the wolf was bigger than he was. Instead he grinned, "I'll have some fun with you first, mutt!" I blinked and he had moved, appearing on the wolf's right side, but the wolf was just as fast. One second the vampire was swinging at the wolf, and the next there was this sickening crunch, and the vampire screeched in pain. His arm had been ripped from his body, which the wolf threw to the side, before lunging at the vampire, getting its jaws around his neck. Another sickening crunch and I took off, the wolf's blazing blue eyes and the image of the vampire's arm in its mouth burned into my mind.

Bolting into the house, I slammed the door shut. The one time I wished my family had gone hunting without using the excuse of a camping trip and they hadn't. Rosalie was up from the couch and in front of me, her hands on my shoulder, "What's wrong?"

My heart was trying to escape from my chest, and I was gasping for breath from my sprint, "Vampire…outside…wolf…vampire being…torn apart…" She was out the door, and I heard the back door slam shut, knowing the others had probably gone out the back. I walked to the couch and sat behind it, trying to calm myself down so I could think straight. Slowly, I started to calm down.

Everyone came back in the front door, moments later, just as I had finally managed to calm myself.

I asked, "Did you see them?"

Bella said, "We found scents, but we didn't see anything."

"What?" I shouted. "But…"

"We believe you," Rosalie assured me. "But there was nothing…no one…there."

Carlisle walked over to me and scooped me up into his arms, "We also found Jacob and Seth's scents there, along with a few others that we didn't recognize, so maybe they finished off that vampire."

I remembered what the vampire had said, "That vampire…he said that he was from a coven that had heard of you. He was seeing…if you were fierce…or something…"

Emmett asked, "Anything else?"

"He had a southern accent," Edward answered before I could.

Jasper looked uneasy, "If we've attracted the attention of a southern coven, that's not a good thing."

"And we can assume that he is now gone," Bella said. "Someone's bound to want revenge."

"Let's hope not," Esme said, glancing at me worriedly.

Carlisle looked at Alice, "Alice?"

Alice closed her eyes and concentrated, but she shook her head, "I can't see anything at the moment, probably because they don't know that one of their own is gone."

Carlisle glanced down at me, "Let's get you upstairs so you can try and relax." I didn't argue with him. I wanted to be alone. Something about the red and white wolf was seriously bothering me.

As soon as my bedroom door closed, I thought about the wolf, closing my eyes as I focused on what my family had said. Jacob and Seth's scents had been in the vicinity…along with several others… I thought about the wolf then, focusing on its face, the delicate features…the eyes…the blue eyes…those light blue eyes…those FAMILIAR light blue eyes! My eyes snapped open. I thought about what Josh had said about McKenna hanging out with two guys that jumped from the highest point of the cliffs. They could all do that without fear because they were shape shifters…werewolves, who were apart of Jacob's pack! McKenna was the latest addition to Jacob's pack!


	27. Chapter 26: Like the Rain

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Another week passed, and I hadn't figured out a way to speak to McKenna. The phone was out at her house now (I'm assuming her father pulled it out of the wall), and I hadn't seen her in her wolf form since that one day. Not to mention my uncle wasn't being very helpful either. Jacob refused to take me over to La Push to see McKenna.

Staring at the ceiling in my room, lying on my bed, I was no further in figuring out how to see McKenna then I had been before. All of my crazy schemes had the same conclusion: caught by vampire family/caught by idiotic alpha wolf.

I sat up and groaned in frustration. I just had to talk to McKenna, that's all I needed to do, but I couldn't figure out how!

My door creaked open, and I glanced up, surprised to see Bella. She held a finger to her lips, warning me to keep quiet. Moving her hand, I saw the glint of keys and smiled. I walked towards her and almost squeaked in alarm as she picked me up and took off down the stairs.

She threw me (not very hard) unceremoniously into her Ferrari; before she started the car and gunned the engine, squealing out of the garage just as I saw Edward throw open the front door.

Bella sighed, "He's not going to be happy with me at all when I get back."

"Thanks," I said, knowing what she was doing. "It means a lot to me."

"Trust me, I know. When Jacob went through this same situation I almost went berserk," she explained.

"Wow!" I said, surprised. Bella had never seemed to be the…defiant type, for lack of a better phrase.

"I'll drop you off at the border, from there you're on your own," she continued. "You do remember your way to McKenna's, right?"

I nodded, now very aware of the rain clouds above that looked like they would release there contents any minute now.

The car squealed to a halt, and I was thrown against my seat belt, which, thankfully, was restraining me from flying through the windshield. As I hopped out of the car I darted across the border and bolted down the road, settling into my long distance pace. I swore that I could hear tires screeching to a halt near the border, and I was hoping that it wasn't Jacob, called in as reinforcements. It was at least a mile to McKenna's, and as I slowed my pace down a bit since I was out of shape, it started to pour. No little sprinkle of a warning, it just started to pour!

_Great!_ I thought sarcastically, picking up my pace again, knowing that I would be feeling lots of sore muscles later.

A good ten minutes later, I was standing in the middle of the Ateara's driveway, in full sight of the house. I glared at the house. No one had answered when I knocked, but Claire's car was sitting in full view. My temper rose as the front window curtain shifted a bit and then closed. _Fine, if that's how she wants to play, I'm really not moving from this spot! Not even if it starts raining harder!_ As if on cue, the rain drops got bigger and the wind picked up. _Today is just not my day…_

An hour later, and I was still out in the pouring rain, my hair plastered to my head, my clothes were completely soaked, and to top it off, my nose was running. The front window curtain had opened several times; once it remained open for a good minute, but that was the longest it remained opened. I had assumed by now that McKenna and her father, Quil, were out on patrol.

Twigs snapped ahead of me in the forest, and leaves crackled. I stared at the spot and two wolves stepped out onto the driveway. One red and white wolf and one that had chocolate brown fur; as soon as McKenna spotted me she growled low in her throat.

I was in no mood to deal with hormonal wolves, "Oh shut up! I've been standing out here in the rain for over an hour waiting for you; the least I can get is a conversation!"

The two exchanged a look before McKenna trotted into the woods, while Quil loped towards the house, retreating behind it.

When McKenna emerged from the woods a few minutes later, in her human form, I was shocked.

Not only had she grown at least a foot taller, her hair, that had been so long and flowing, was now cut short, and spiked up, making her look fiercer. She almost reminded me of the Amazon vampires.

"What?" She demanded. "Am I that appalling to you?"

"McKenna…" I said, before shaking my head. "If you think for a minute that…"

"I'm just not the right type of monster, right? Even though I saved your life?" She snapped.

I couldn't help shouting, losing control of my temper, "Would you listen to me for one minute?" McKenna's eyes widened, but she didn't say a word. "Thanks. Now, I don't think you're…what word did you use? Appalling? You still look great, and you're still my friend."

McKenna snorted, "I don't know if we can BE friends."

"What?" I shouted again.

She turned to me, her eyes showing how upset she was, "It's because of your family that I'm this way! How can you live with such monsters? They drink blood!"

"Not human blood though," I stated, holding her accusing stare. "And just like you, they didn't have a choice in their transformations either…unless you count Bella, but she's nuts anyway!"

McKenna smiled slightly, but then frowned, "You lied to me."

"True," I answered. "But my family's secret is not mine to just blab to the world."

She gritted her teeth and nodded, "I suppose." Her gaze became cold again, "This one isn't yours to tell either!"

"Oh yeah, like I'm going to go blab to Hiro and Josh," I said sarcastically. "Speaking of Hiro and Josh, they're worried about you too."

"Don't you think I know that?" McKenna snapped. "Do you know how hard it has been not to call any of you? Do you want to know what happened to trigger my transformation?" I didn't answer. "My boyfriend broke up with me," she choked, and I realized that she was close to crying, her hands shaking. "My father then made a joke about it and I just…" She broke off, trembling harder.

"McKenna…" I started to say.

"It's their fault!" She shouted, cutting me off. "Why did they have to stay here, why? I hate them!"

I looked away from her, "If you hate them, then you hate me as well."

"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped.

"I'm not," I said, calmly. "They stayed in this area because of me."

McKenna's eyes widened, before she looked away from me, "I don't hate you though…"

Crazy idea time, "McKenna…what if you met my family, right now?" She stared at me as if I had grown a second head. "It would help you to understand them better."

"I don't know," McKenna said, uneasily. "I'm not exactly…stable."

"My family can handle themselves," I said lightly.

McKenna sighed, "I can see how it would hurt, but I'm going to do it anyway. I want to understand them a bit more then just Jacob talking." She headed towards the trees.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

McKenna said over her shoulder, "Be right back."

Dumbfounded couldn't even begin to explain my state of mind. I waited for a good minute before McKenna trotted out of the trees, her red and white fur clinging to her wolf frame. She stopped next to me and shoved me towards her back.

"Are you sure?" I asked, not feeling comfy with riding on my friend's back. She rolled her eyes, before shoving me again. "All right! I get it!" Grabbing her wet fur I hopped onto her back, and wrapped my arms around her neck.

I had barely gotten a good grip on her neck, so I wouldn't choke McKenna, when she took off. My breath was taken away by the speed. I thought vampires were fast, but these werewolves/shape shifters were faster! The ride wasn't as smooth though, I could feel McKenna's powerful muscles working as she ran, but there was a grace to it too, reminiscent of how my vampire family ran.

McKenna slowed gradually to a stop right in front of our driveway. I tried to dismount gracefully, but landed on my butt in a mud puddle instead. McKenna grinned before trotting off into the nearby trees, making a strange half growl half barking sound that I assumed was laughter. I decided not to shout at her "laugh it up, Furball" since I didn't think she'd take it so well.

McKenna walked out of the trees and said, "Well? Are you going to introduce me to your…family…or not?"

"Come on," I said, trying not to laugh. "It's a bit of a hike to the house." McKenna just shrugged, before following me. Hiking wouldn't really be a problem for either of us.

Halfway up the driveway, Alice came out of the trees in front of me, startling both McKenna and I, but McKenna's reaction was far different from mine.

With a ripping sound, my friend was no longer a human; she was a snarling wolf, baring her teeth at Alice, as she stalked forward, one paw in front of the other.

I do not claim to be the brightest person in the world, much less Forks, but putting myself between my vampire sibling and my snarling, werewolf friend was probably not the smartest thing to do.

"What are you doing?" Alice hissed at me.

I ignored her, focusing on McKenna. Her gaze showed an inner battle going on between her instinct to attack and her instinct to protect human life. "McKenna," I said calmly. "This is my sister, Alice. Alice this is McKenna…why don't you say hello?"

"Hello," Alice said. It sounded like she was fighting back a snarl.

I watched McKenna and slowly, her hackles started to lower, and she stopped snarling. Watching Alice warily, she dipped her head to her in greeting.

"Phew!" I sighed.

I walked to McKenna's side, and she looked at me with sad eyes and whined. "I know you can't control it yet. It's fine," I said quietly.

Alice sighed, "Honestly, I sometimes think you're worse then Bella with your schemes."

"They are not schemes!" I said indignantly. "They're just crazy ideas!"

McKenna did that strange growl and barking sound, which I now knew, was definitely wolf laughter.

Alice rolled her eyes, before saying loudly, "Edward, you'd best approach slowly…and in the open."

McKenna growled low in her throat. I explained softly, "Alice can see into the future…but not if…um…you're a Quileute." She cocked her head to the side before she nodded, understanding showing in her eyes. "Edward is my brother, he's a mind reader…you're not immune to his power." McKenna snorted, in what I assumed was, disgust.

Edward walked slowly around down the driveway, and he stopped next to Alice, giving me one of his brotherly glares. "Sara, this was not one of your best ideas!"

"What are you, my father?" I questioned. Edward spurted, unable to come up with a come back, McKenna laughed again.

"She's doing well," I said. "So…can she meet the rest of the family?"

Edward and Alice exchanged a quick glance, before Edward nodded, "McKenna can get some new clothes then too."

If wolves could blush, McKenna did, and she growled in anger as it dawned on her that Edward had read her mind.

Edward held up his hands, "Sorry, I can't help it!"

McKenna snorted, but followed me as Alice and Edward dashed ahead. "I think you'll like my parents…granted I'm not sure the rest of my siblings will be as welcoming, especially Rosalie."

McKenna grunted as we made it to the porch. This was one of those times that I was thankful that the door was large enough to fit a broad shouldered wolf.

McKenna first poked her head in, ears pricked and her nose going two-forty. She sneezed, and started to swipe at it with her paw. Emmett joked from the recliner as he flipped through the channels, "I see that we still smell bad! And here I was starting to get used to wolves liking our scent."

McKenna's expression was priceless. Her whipped towards Emmett and stared at him, her eyes wide.

"I was kidding," Emmett said, laughing.

Rosalie turned around and scowled as soon as she saw McKenna, "Why do we keep getting mutts in the house?"

McKenna growled before she darted into the room and slammed into the couch; Rosalie leapt off of it and hissed angrily.

I grabbed a handful of McKenna's shoulder fur, as she growled, but she soon quieted, but she looked at me, her gaze filled with confusion.

Looking around the room I spotted Jasper at the bottom of the stairs. "Jasper," I whispered to her. "My other brother, he can control emotions."

McKenna gave me a look that said that she thought my family was weird. I couldn't really argue with that logic.

Esme and Carlisle walked in from the dining room. Esme took us in and said, "I'll make you two some hot chocolate, you must be freezing!"

Carlisle gazed at us and said, "Go upstairs and get some dry clothes on."

"Um…McKenna needs some clothes," I said, blushing. It was embarrassing to say that.

Esme paused on her way back to the dining room, "I'll get her something." She changed direction and hurried upstairs. She came down a few seconds later with some clothes, "I hope these will fit."

I started to head for the stairs when McKenna let out a pitiful whine. That's when it dawned on me. McKenna couldn't come up the stairs, her paws were probably bigger than the steps.

I was embarrassed again, "Can we have the kitchen to ourselves?"

Carlisle and Esme nodded. "I'll be right back down, McKenna," I called over my shoulder.

Apparently, McKenna didn't want to be left alone with my family. As soon as I reached the top of the stairs, I was bowled over by an anxious red and white mass of fur.

"McKenna…" I groaned; I would have two massive bruises, one on each shoulder; one from McKenna slamming into me and another from hitting the floor with my other shoulder.

She at least looked sheepish, so I decided to let the subject drop. As I stood up I gestured at the door next to me, "This is my Dad's office. My room's right next to you." McKenna turned and gripped the doorknob in her jaws, turning her head slowly to open it. I was impressed.

I followed her in, setting her clothes on the bed, before opening my drawer, pulling out a simple, black T-shirt and some blue jeans.

McKenna said, "I don't like your sister, Rosalie."

"I couldn't tell," I said sarcastically, fighting with my drenched shirt. It wasn't cooperating with me.

McKenna laughed, like she used to, "I do like your parents though, they seem nice."

"They're great," I said, finally winning against my shirt. I wasn't looking forward to fighting with my jeans though. "I think you'll like Bella as well. She's the one that gave me a ride to the border in her Ferrari."

McKenna stared at me, "A Ferrari?"

"Yeah, you don't want to hear what other cars are sitting in the garage," I stated.

"You're probably right," McKenna said, a smile playing across her face as I fell over. I really hated jeans at the moment.

Something finally occurred to me, "Wait! You said your boyfriend broke up with you, but Josh said that you broke up with him…"

McKenna snorted, "He probably spread the rumor, my boyfriend. We seemed like such a 'great' couple…"

"I'm sorry," I said, pulling on the dry jeans. I was considering burning the other pair, evil things.

McKenna sighed, "Yeah, we…" She froze. McKenna had moved her hand to brush her fingers through the long locks that used to be there. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Why'd you cut it?" I asked softly.

Tears were forming at the corners of her eyes, "I had to. I looked like a mop when I changed into a wolf; my fur reflected the length of my hair…"

Without warning, she hugged me and began to sob. I hugged her back, understanding that she needed a friend more then anything at the moment. She needed someone to talk to that wasn't a werewolf…but what could I say? That everything would be all right? I'd be lying if I said that. I was at a loss as to what to say as her tears fell like the rain outside…

**_Now we return to the usual once a week update!_**


	28. Chapter 27: Imprinted

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

McKenna's sobs subsided, along with her tears, but my awkward feeling didn't go away. I still had no idea how to comfort her. What could you say to your best friend who was going through transformations that they couldn't control?

She wiped away the tear stains on her face, "Thanks…"

I wanted to say, "for what?" but I held my tongue, knowing that saying that wouldn't be taken very well. Instead, I suggested, "Want to go see if there's hot chocolate waiting for us downstairs?"

McKenna rolled her eyes at me, "Sure, why not? They could probably hear me crying down there anyway."

"They won't say anything," I reassured her as I opened my bedroom door. I thought darkly, _they'd better not!_

No one said a word as we walked down the stairs, into the living room, and finally into the dining room. Two mugs filled with hot chocolate sat on the dining room table, just as I had figured.

Esme walked in from the kitchen and smiled as she placed a bowl of small marshmallows on the table, "There, now that should complete your hot chocolate!"

I couldn't help smiling at my mother. She seemed to know just what to say to diffuse a strained silence. I grabbed a handful of marshmallows and plopped them into my cup.

McKenna cautiously grabbed a handful of marshmallows, as if she thought they were poisoned.

We both turned as Carlisle walked in from the living room, "Hi, Da-!" I sneezed and sniffed unhappily. I was starting to believe that I had caught a cold while standing out in the rain.

Carlisle gazed at me worriedly, placing his hand on my forehead. I saw McKenna stiffen out of the corner of my eye. He said, moving his hand away a few seconds later, "You don't have a fever, but I want you in bed early tonight, understood?"

"Yes," I grumbled, embarrassed that he was doing this when I had a friend over.

If it was possible, McKenna seemed to stiffen even more as Carlisle kissed my cheek. He headed towards the kitchen, but paused at the door, saying over his shoulder, "McKenna…you're worrying too much. We'd never hurt Sara." He pushed open the door and walked into the kitchen. Esme followed him.

I was officially embarrassed, my cheeks a bright red. I glanced at McKenna and noticed that she was blushing as well. I asked, "Why are you blushing?"

McKenna's blush got worse, "He seemed to know exactly what I was thinking…I really was afraid that he would hurt you…"

I wasn't sure how much to tell her, but I figured she had a right to know some things now, "Your instincts are pretty good. My father is the most dangerous vampire in the house…at least when it comes to me." McKenna gazed at me in confusion. "He's more sensitive to my blood then the others." I watched as her eyes widened in alarm. "However, he would never hurt me; he's practically immune to my blood now."

"So," she said, "let me get this straight. Your father wants your blood but now he's pretty much unaffected by it?"

"Yeah, pretty much," I said, nodding in agreement.

McKenna sighed, "No offense, but your family is weirder than mine!"

"None taken," I laughed. "I agree about them being weird entirely!"

McKenna started to laugh as well, and neither of us seemed able to stop. I was waiting for one of my siblings to ask if we were all right, but I was glad when no one came in.

When our laughter finally subsided, McKenna said, "I'm transferring to Forks High School next week."

"Really?" I asked, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice.

McKenna smiled. Apparently I hadn't done a very good job of hiding it. "My dad and Jacob decided that our job of protecting you and Hiro would be easier if I was in the same school."

My happiness dwindled. I said, bad temperedly, "I don't need to be protected."

"Sure," McKenna said. "So that vampire that nearly killed you…you had that situation all under control?"

"When you put it like that…no," I answered, truthfully.

McKenna smiled slightly, "I'll be starting at Forks High School tomorrow."

"That's awesome!" I said smiling. "Do you know what classes you're taking yet?"

"Not yet," McKenna sighed. "I'm hoping that I have some with you."

Monday morning came around pouring rain, irritating my pounding head. I sat up in bed and instantly regretted moving so fast, as the world spun. I slowly lay back down and called out pathetically, "Dad…!" My throat throbbed, and I realized that my nose was running. _I hate the rain…_

Carlisle was in my room within a few seconds, concern showing on his face, "What's wrong?"

"You're the doctor," I croaked, my throat giving another throb.

Carlisle smiled a bit at my statement, he placed his cold hand against my forehead, and I shivered. His hand felt REALLY cold.

He frowned, but he continued his examination, asking as he placed his fingertips on either side of my throat, "Does that hurt?" I nodded and he moved his hands away. "Does it hurt to swallow?" I nodded again.

Carlisle said, "I'll be right back." He was only gone for a few seconds, holding a thermometer and his work bag.

With the thermometer in my mouth, I watched Carlisle pull out a small box from his bag. The thermometer beeped and Carlisle pulled it out of my mouth and frowned, "I was afraid that it would say that…"

"Say what?" My voice cracked annoyingly.

He answered, "That you have a fever of one hundred and one." Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a small flashlight. "Open your mouth and say 'ah'."

"Ah," I managed to say.

Carlisle was still frowning as he grabbed the small box, and opened its lid, "I'm going to have to take a swab from the back of your throat."

I hated that part the most. If it was possible, I think my father hated it more than I did. He instructed me, as he started to add a couple drops of liquid from the bottles in the box, "Lie down and rest for now."

I did as he said, laying my head against the pillow, but I watched him work with the box (I assumed it was a test kit of some sort). Eventually, though, I dozed off.

A gentle shaking woke me, and I blinked groggily, my father was sitting next to me on the edge of my bed. He said, once I was fully awake, "You're not going anywhere for a while. You have strep throat."

"Aren't there antibiotics to make it so that it's not contagious?" I asked.

Carlisle nodded, "There are, but the hospital will not be open today or tomorrow."

"Why?" I demanded, my voice cracking again.

He sighed, "It's closed for a couple of days, apart from a few nurses for Thanksgiving."

"That's not until the end of the week," I protested.

Carlisle nodded, "Yes, that's why only emergency cases are being dealt with over the holiday break."

"Who's brilliant idea was the week break?" I questioned.

Carlisle smiled, "Dr. Seasil's, who else?"

That was a long week for me, after three days my throat stopped hurting and my fever went down, but I still couldn't go to school since I was still contagious. I did manage to reassure McKenna and Hiro that I hadn't been abducted by aliens (Hiro) or drained of my blood (McKenna). I can't say that I particularly enjoyed my Thanksgiving since no one who was human or even remotely human (Jacob, Charlie, etc.) was allowed over, making it just a family event, which meant that I was eating alone.

On the Tuesday after Thanksgiving I was allowed to go to school since I had taken an antibiotic on Monday. To say the least, I wasn't looking forward to going to school and turning in all the homework my siblings had graciously picked up for me… Granted…it saved me from doing all my homework later!

As I got out of the Mercedes, I spotted Hiro and McKenna waving at me from underneath one of the trees near the school. Putting my own hood up I ran over to them.

"Let's head inside," Hiro suggested, leading the way towards the entrance. Something in the back of my mind registered that McKenna was keeping awfully close to Hiro, but that wouldn't fully dawn on me until later.

Hiro asked, once we were inside, "Why didn't you just go to the doctor right away for antibiotics?"

"They were closed," I said, for what felt like the thousandth time.

Hiro asked, "Your dad didn't have any on hand?"

"No!" I answered, exasperated. "He can't just take prescription drugs with him whenever he pleases, that's illegal!"

Hiro sighed, "I guess you're right… Be glad that you got back today though, since Mr. Banner wanted us to get into groups of three today to work on a science project."

"Great," I said, somewhat sarcastically

McKenna suggested, glancing around the hall, "We should probably head to class." We nodded in agreement and followed her to our first hour class.

It turned out that McKenna had gotten her wish. She was in all of my classes, I noticed, though, that whenever Hiro was in class with us, she was focusing on him more than the class.

After school that day, the sun miraculously shining, illuminating all of the puddles from the rain that had occurred earlier that morning, I asked McKenna as Hiro started to head towards his house, "What's with you? Do you like Hiro or something?"

McKenna nodded and whispered, "I imprinted on him."

"Explain imprinting. I've had it explained before but I need a refresher course," I stated, blown away by the fact that she had imprinted on Hiro.

She sighed, "Imprinting, in extremely simplified terms, is love at first sight. Or, if you want some complications added into that explanation, we imprint on whoever is going to…well…make a better werewolf…"

"Wow!" I said. I had forgotten all of those details.

McKenna sighed, "To add to that mess, if the person we imprint on isn't looking for a partner we adjust to being whatever they need us to be."

"Basically, Hiro's not looking for a girlfriend right now?" I tried to make sure I was keeping up.

McKenna gave me a sidelong look, "He's looking at YOU to be his girlfriend, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Right…" A silence spanned between us for a few minutes as we walked. "McKenna…do you want me to say no if Hiro asks me out?"

McKenna seemed to brighten up, "Would you? That would be so much easier! But you can't tell him that you're rejecting him because of me!"

"Of course I won't tell him," I said, trying to smile. "I'll just hint that there's someone else looking to be his girlfriend."

"Thanks, Sara." McKenna said, as a truck started to slow down next to us. Her father in the driver's seat. "You're a great friend."

"Thanks…see you tomorrow, McKenna," I said, waving as she got into the truck.

As the truck drove off, I sighed,_ some friend…whenever Hiro asks me to go out with him I'm going to have to tell him no…granted I'd rather have Hiro angry with me than a jealous werewolf on my hands!_


	29. Chapter 28: Secrets

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

If Hiro didn't ask me out soon, I was pretty sure McKenna was going to lose it. A month had passed since I had learned that she had imprinted on Hiro and he still hadn't found the nerve to ask me out.

I was sitting happily in the kitchen, glad that school had been cancelled due to the blizzard raging outside. A sigh escaped me as I sipped hot chocolate as I listened to Edward playing the piano softly, Bella sitting next to him on the bench. I was sitting on the couch, with Carlisle on my right and Esme on my left. Their cold skin wasn't bothering me since I had a sweatshirt on. It was nice to be relaxing at home instead of at school, where the atmosphere seemed to be so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

The phone rang just then, and I sighed in exasperation. I had a feeling I knew who it was, but Alice surprised me as she said from the recliner, "It's Hiro."

"Hiro? I was expecting McKenna," I muttered as I got up and dashed into the dining room. "Hello?" I said, pretending that I didn't know who it was.

"Hi, it's me, Hiro," Hiro said, sounding awkward.

I had a feeling that I knew what was coming, "So…what's up?"

"Well…um…" He sounded very nervous. "Would you…would you go out with me?"

I heard Emmett and Edward laughing, and I really wished that I could punch them…maybe Jasper would for me! "Hiro…I would but I can't…"

"What do you mean?" Hiro asked sounding dejected and suspicious.

I answered, "I can't go out with you… I can't be your girlfriend."

"Josh broke his promise, didn't he?" Hiro demanded, anger having replaced his dejectedness.

"No!" I had to defend Josh now, keeping it a secret that Josh had indeed broken his promise and then corrected it. "There's another girl at school who likes you and made me promise not to date you."

"Who?" He asked, sounding happier.

"That's the other problem," I said. "They asked me not to tell you who they were."

His voice became angry again, "Now I know you're lying. Some friend you are." I flinched as he slammed the phone down. I sighed. That could have gone WAY better. The only good thing was the laughter had stopped but that was probably because of my mood which was very dark at the moment.

Hiro did not speak to me the rest of the semester. McKenna did though, happy that I hadn't become Hiro's girlfriend, but she was sad for Hiro, knowing how much he had liked me…more than a friend probably should. Hiro was also bound and determined to walk home, no longer accepting rides from any of my siblings.

The good news from all of this, Josh had called me telling me that we could meet in La Push the day after I got out for Christmas Break, and Jacob had agreed to drive me there.

Sitting at my desk, staring out of my bedroom wall/window, I was starting to wonder if I should have just told Hiro who was interested in him, it would have saved both me and McKenna a lot of grief, but it was too late now.

I glanced at my bedroom door as I heard the doorknob turn, and Carlisle walked in. "Hiro is still not talking to you?"

I wouldn't meet his gaze, "Yeah, he's not talking to me still."

My father wasn't fooled in the slightest. He sat on the edge of my bed, and gazed out the window for several seconds. Finally, he said, "I'm sure things will be back to normal in no time."

I came very close to tears. Nothing was normal about my life anymore. It had never been normal, but it had felt normal at one point in time.

I was relieved when he didn't notice the tears that had pricked the corners of my eyes for a brief second. He stood up and walked over to me, placing a kiss on my right cheek. "Remember to set your alarm clock since I have to be at the hospital early tomorrow, and your mother will be picking up our plane tickets so we can all go to Ireland."

"Right," I said, giving his cheek a kiss in return. "Love you."

"I love you too," He glanced at the clock. "Get to bed by ten, you need your rest."

"I will," I said. Carlisle walked out of the room and I closed the curtains and changed into my pajamas, seeing no reason to stay up any longer.

The next morning I awoke to Reba McEntire's "Secret" playing, the refrain having started _"She has a secret that she can never tell. One wrong decision still puts her heart through hell."_ I shut the alarm off, not wanting to hear the rest of the song.

Showering, I sighed happily as the warm water cascaded over me. I reluctantly turned off the water and put on my clothes.

After a quick breakfast I waited in the living room for Jacob to arrive, flipping absentmindedly through the channels.

Emmett complained, "Would you just settle on one already?"

"You're one to talk," Rosalie teased him.

Emmett didn't have to suffer very long though since Edward announced, "Jacob's here. He just pulled into the driveway."

I tossed the remote to Emmett; who gladly caught it, while I grabbed my jacket, zipping it up before I headed outside to wait for Jacob. I didn't have to wait long, only a minute or two, when his Rabbit pulled up.

As I got into the front seat, he commented, "You really shouldn't be standing outside in whether like this. You'll catch a cold at the very least."

"Just because you're your own personal heater…" I let him come to his own conclusions.

Jacob grinned, "Yeah, well…" He mussed up my hair. His tone became serious, "I'll sit in the car while you're at Sam's."

"Why?" I asked, thinking that the two alpha wolves had discussed something of importance.

"Just because I can," Jacob answered evasively.

I sighed, but decided not to argue, since Jacob would find a way to weasel out of any explanations.

When the car finally stopped in the Ulleys' driveway, I spotted Josh sitting on the front steps of his house. He stood up as I got out of the car.

"Let's head into the woods," he said softly as he led the way.

I thought that he was acting a bit strange, but I didn't give it much thought at the time, "All right."

We walked for several minutes, and Josh didn't say a thing to me. When he did stop, I knew something was bothering him, just by the way he stood, his shoulders hunched as if he were trying to hide from something. He didn't look at me as he said, "I know you know what's going on with McKenna…I also know you're not telling Hiro and I something about your family…all of your family, including Jacob… I think you even know something about my father, McKenna's father, and several others in La Push that you're not talking about… So, what are you hiding?"

"Josh…I can't…" I tried to say.

He cut me off, "You can't say right? Why? What's more important then your friends?"

"I can't answer that," I murmured.

Josh looked at me finally, "Why? I thought maybe I was important enough to you after that incident in the movie theater, and don't tell me you didn't feel it."

"I did," I said softly. "But the secrets I have I can't tell to anybody."

He looked away again, "Let me know when you can. Until then…I don't think we can be anything but friends…"

I perked up a teeny, tiny bit, but not much, "Do you want me to leave?"

"For now…" He smiled slightly, "We can still hang out over Christmas Break after you get back from your trip."

"Right," I said, unable to manage a smile as I trudged through the snow, back to the driveway. Josh didn't follow me. I could feel his stare burrowing through my back, trying to see the secrets that I couldn't tell him…and looking for one thing that wasn't a secret at all…my feelings for him.

I slid into the front seat of Jacob's car a few minutes later, and he backed out of the driveway without saying a word. I had a feeling he had known about this but I wondered how, "Uncle Jacob…how did you know?"

"Sam has been…getting him to think about things more," Jacob answered. "Sam's pretty sure that Josh is going to make the transformation soon. So, he doesn't want him hanging out with a vampire sympathizer."

"That plan backfired," I laughed coldly. "We're still friends."

Jacob grinned, "Good, he'll need one if he does make the transformation."

"Right…" I said, knowing just how true that was.

A few minutes later I was back at home. I noticed that Carlisle's Mercedes was in the garage. I assumed he had gone in early to work just to make sure that they had him down for vacation time starting tomorrow.

I pushed the door open and closed it behind me. I noticed that no one was around so I assumed they were all hunting.

I threw my coat off feeling more miserable by the second. Due to all the secrets I had to keep I had rifts in two friendships now. Going up to the nearest wall, I pressed my forehead against it, trying to figure out the roiling feelings that were going on within me. Sadness…rejection… I smacked my head against the wall thoroughly hating my life at the moment.

A cold hand rested on my shoulder, and I glanced to my left to see who it was. Carlisle said, pulling me gently, but firmly away from the wall, "If my heart was still beating it would have skipped a beat! Are you all right?"

"Physically, yeah," I said, tears stinging the corners of my eyes. "Emotionally…" I burst into tears, burying my head against his chest, "Dad…all these secrets…"

"Shh…" He soothed, rubbing my back. "I know it's hard on you… I know…but I can't say anything that will make bearing all the secrets you know easier."


	30. Chapter 29: Ireland

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Sitting on the plane, that would soon be on its way to Ireland, I still felt like crap. All the secrets in the world seemed to rest on my shoulders and I couldn't tell anyone…well…I could tell McKenna, but as of late, she'd been too busy mooning over Hiro. I sighed. It felt weird to A) Be at odds with my best friend, B) Have a girl friend that was a werewolf, and C) Have a potential boyfriend know that I was keeping secrets from him but still wanting to be friends. I sighed again.

"Would you stop that!" Emmett said, his tone indicating that he was teasing. Sure enough, "I don't think the other passengers in the back have heard you sigh yet."

How I ever ended up sitting in between Emmett and Edward was completely beyond me. I know we were riding first class, but still…it just perplexes me! Knowing that it would be a long trip to Ireland, I stuck my headphones on, and turned on my MP3 Player, sticking it on shuffle, and I fell asleep to the song, "Keeper of the Stars" performed by Tracy Byrd.

I was relieved when we finally got out of the airport in Ireland. In EVERY airport I had ever been in, someone always managed to give me a dirty look! Carlisle pulled up with a light blue rental car that looked big enough to only fit three people.

"Dad…that's not going to fit all of us," I stated.

Carlisle smiled slightly, "I know, the others are…taking their own means of getting to Siobhan's."

_Running…why did I think they'd do anything else?_ I thought, somewhat happily. This meant I didn't have to sit near Edward and Emmett who had still found ways to torment me, even when I had my headphones on!

As Esme and I got into the car I said, "Mom. Dad." They both turned slightly to look at me, "Can I sit as far away from Edward and Emmett as possible on the return flight home?"

They both laughed softly, "We'll arrange it that way." Esme said, smiling. I couldn't help noticing that she and my father were holding hands, even as he drove. I wasn't grossed out or anything. It's just that it was kind of out of character for both of them to be showing their affection…out in the open…so to speak. Usually they were the two that kept their romance lives…well…out of sight. Maybe a kiss here and there, but I'd never seen them do anything else…and you know what, I really didn't want to either!

I turned my attention to the landscape flying by outside (I didn't want to guess at how fast we were going!) from what I could tell, as it whizzed past, the landscape was a lot of rolling hills. It looked peaceful…quiet.

It didn't surprise me, when we did arrive at Siobhan's, that the others had beaten us there. Siobhan and her coven resided at a quaint little house away that looked over a quaint little village. I felt kind of bad for the villagers, but at least I wouldn't get to see it in person, since Siobhan, Liam, and Maggie's eyes were red, and no where near being black. It was kind of odd, I should have been terrified, especially after my most recent experience with a human, blood drinking vampire, but I wasn't afraid of Siobhan and her coven. I soon got my answer to this though.

Carlisle and Siobhan greeted each other with a hug. Siobhan said, "It's good to have you here with us, Carlisle."

"Thank you for inviting us," Carlisle said. He glanced my way so fast that I almost didn't catch it. I assumed that he was making sure that I wasn't panicking about being near three human blood drinkers.

Siobhan saw his glance as well, she asked him something in a quick, low tone, and I couldn't catch what she said.

Carlisle answered, in a regular speed and tone, "I'm actually surprised that she's doing so well. I know she met all of you before, but after her last encounter…"

"I'm glad she's not afraid," Maggie said, stepping right up to me. She was only a few inches taller than I was. "I can finally talk to someone who's close to my height!"

Siobhan and Liam laughed. Carlisle asked, a gleam in his eyes, "I don't suppose that you were wishing that she wouldn't be afraid."

"And what if I was?" Siobhan asked, pretending to be angry. At least I hoped that she was pretending.

Carlisle said, "It would prove my point even more, that's all."

"Then for my own sake, no, I was not wishing it," Siobhan answered.

As we the others laughed, I joined in. It was a relief for me to feel at ease around people, not having to worry about my family being vampires, since we were around other vampires, who knew all the secrets I had to deal with already.

Maggie asked, as the others moved off, "So…are you tired from your flight or would you mind chatting with me?"

I couldn't help thinking that Maggie was a bizarre vampire, but I kept my opinion to myself, "Sure. Why not?"

"Are you sure?" Maggie queried a knowing look in her eyes.

That's when I remembered that she could tell when someone was lying. I blushed, "No, I don't mind!"

"Good," Maggie said, leading the way up the hill…or maybe hills would be more accurate?

As we stood on the top of hill (I'm seriously thinking it was hills!), Maggie asked, "So…have you been well since the last time we saw you?"

"Yeah," I lied. She gave me a skeptical glance. "All right, fine! I'm not. I feel miserable."

"Why?" Maggie asked, sitting on the grassy hillside.

I was starting to feel annoyed. I was being grilled by a vampire that barely knew me. "My best friend hates me. My one girl friend, who's a werewolf is mooning over said best friend, and the guy that likes me won't date me so long as I keep secrets from him."

"Complicated," Maggie said. "So…what did you do to make your best friend hate you so much?"

I decided that arguing with her wouldn't do me any good, "I told him that I couldn't go out with him." She was about to say something but I quickly said, "Only because my best friend, who's a werewolf, imprinted on him and didn't want to have an angry werewolf on my hands!"

Maggie laughed, "Why didn't you tell him that your friend liked him?"

"She asked me not to," I grumbled.

"You lead a very complicated life," she commented.

I sighed, "You have no idea."

She looked at me, "I guess all I can tell you is that you should still try and be friends with all of them."

"Thanks," I muttered dryly.

Maggie smiled, "Maybe the fresh Irish air will cheer you up!"

**_Since I missed posting on Sunday, I'll also post one extra chapter for the week!_**


	31. Chapter 30: Return to Normalcy

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

To say the least, I was relieved to return back to good, old, mostly cloudy/rainy, Forks. Maggie had nearly driven me nuts with her lie detection abilities.

Everyone laughed as I darted into the house happily. Rosalie teased, knowing how much Maggie had annoyed me, "I think we should go to Ireland next year."

"No!" I shouted, pretending to be mortified.

That set them all off laughing again, as Carlisle headed into the dining room to check if anybody had called while we were gone.

I grabbed my bags and headed upstairs to my room, where I started to either throw my clothes into my hamper, or put them back in my dresser, if I hadn't worn them.

"I think you should come downstairs," Carlisle said, standing in my open doorway.

Blushing, I followed him downstairs. I had jumped when he had spoken. You would think that I would be used to vampires and their strange habits by now...well! I'm not…

Carlisle led me into the dining room, and hit play on the answering machine, before he left the room. I gazed after him in confusion, but I started to smile as soon as I heard the first message:

_"Hey, Sara…It's me, Hiro… I'm sorry for being an idiot! I know you wouldn't lie to me, I'm really sorry!"_

They just kept getting better after that first one:

_"Sara? I'm really, really, really, really, really…_(you get the idea, that one lasted awhile) _sorry! Please call me back!"_

There were several others after that from Hiro. I was very surprised when McKenna's voice greeted my ears:

_"Sara? Are you all right? Hiro told Josh and I that you haven't called him back. Are you all right?"_

Her next message showed that she was indeed a werewolf:

_"Sara! If you don't call me back by next week I'm going to assume that I can be a one-wolf-army and tear your family apart!"_

Okay…so that last one kind of scared me. The last message really surprised me:

_"Hey, Josh calling. Hiro and McKenna are under several different impressions…none of them are ones I want to relay on someone's answering machine since they're A) Kind of disturbing or B) Very funny! Just give them a call back before they do something drastic."_

That last message also surprised me. I was surprised to hear that Hiro AND McKenna had called Josh. I was starting to wonder what had transpired while I had been in Ireland with a lie detector…sorry! Maggie.

I decided to call Hiro first since he had left at least ten messages. The phone didn't even get the chance to get through its first ring when Hiro said, "Hello?"

"Hey, Hiro," I greeted him, sounding relaxed.

A gusty sigh was the first sound I heard from his end, "What happened to you? McKenna and I thought you'd disappeared off the face of the Earth!" He added as an afterthought, "You have forgiven me…right?"

"We're good," I reassured him. I had been half-tempted to tease him, but I wasn't sure how well he'd take it.

I could easily imagine Hiro beaming, "Great! Yeah…Josh thought you were fine! But seriously, what were you doing?"

"I was in Ireland visiting some relatives of mine," I answered.

"Wow!" He said. "Ireland! Was it fun?"

"Ireland was great. It was my relatives…well, one in particularly that annoyed me," I said, thinking of Maggie once again.

"Tough…" He paused as his mother shouted something at him from the background. Hiro said hurriedly, "Sorry, got to go!" He hung up.

I sighed. So Hiro and I were back to normal…as normal as any friends with secrets could be!

Hanging up the phone, I lifted it back up and dialed McKenna's number. She at least didn't grab the phone before the first ring ended...she grabbed it just before the second ring could begin. "Hello?" She greeted.

"Hi, McKenna! It's Sara…" I started to say.

"Sara?" McKenna sounded shocked. "What happened? Where have you been? Why aren't you answering my questions?"

I grinned as I heard her father, Quil, in the background, "Maybe if you gave her a chance to answer…"

"Dad! Quiet!" McKenna snapped.

I quickly said, before she could start grilling me for answers, "What happened: went to Ireland, also answers where have I been. No comment on the last question you managed to ask."

"Ha! Ha!" McKenna said sarcastically. I could easily picture her sticking her tongue out. "Why were you in Ireland?"

"Visiting some 'relatives'," I said, making sure she understood that I had been visiting vampires.

McKenna's voice was laced with sarcasm, "Lovely! Don't suppose you have developed a taste for blood yet?"

"Very funny," I said, sticking my tongue out at the phone, before placing it back against my ear.

"Did you call Hiro?" She asked anxiously. "He's been worried."

"I've been calling everyone in order the order that the machine registered them.

"Oh!" McKenna said, sounding slightly surprised. She giggled, "I'll let you call Josh then!"

"We're just friends," I stated. I blinked in surprise. That had been very easy to say. I must not have been as ready for a boyfriend as I had originally thought.

"If you're sure," her tone indicated that she didn't believe me. "I'll talk to you another time, hopefully BEFORE school comes back into session! Bye!"

"Bye!" I said, hanging up the phone.

Picking it up again, I dialed Josh's number. I was greeted with a "Hey, this is Josh."

"Just the guy I wanted to talk to," I said.

Josh asked, "Should I be worried?"

"No. Just thought I'd reassure you that I didn't fall off the face of the Earth," I said, jokingly.

"That was not the worst one they came up with," Josh said.

I begged, "Don't tell me the other ones. I can already guess."

He laughed, "So your Christmas Break is almost over, right?"

"Yeah, it's almost over," I confirmed.

"Well…since things have gotten back to how they used to be," Josh said. "Why don't we all hang out this tomorrow?"

"Sounds great to me," I said. "I'm sure my parents won't mind." I glanced anxiously at the dining room door, but it didn't fly open, so I assumed I'd be all right.

"Cool," he said. "I'll call McKenna and Hiro to see if they can come. See ya tomorrow," he hung up before I could say anything.

I walked into the living room, after hanging up the phone. I knew that they had all heard my conversations, but I decided that I would formally ask if I could go to Josh's tomorrow. "Mom. Dad. May I go to Josh's tomorrow?"

Esme said, "Yes, that's fine."

"As long as you're home by four," Carlisle added.

Emmett teased, "Now no cliff diving!"

I rolled my eyes and didn't give him any verbal response. He sighed, "I'll have to think of something else to get you to react."

"You'll be thinking for a LONG time!" I said, grinning.

Emmett gave me a look that said I'd best watch my back over the next few days.

Edward commented, "Emmett, you better pray that Carlisle never finds out about what you just thought."

If it were possible, Emmett seemed to get paler, as Carlisle gave him a scathing look, "You know that if you hurt her in any way you'll regret it."

"I would never really hurt her!" Emmett assured Carlisle. "Edward…now he's fair game!" He lunged at Edward; he leapt off of the couch.

I was surprised when I was picked up and then found myself sitting in between Carlisle and Esme, Carlisle's arm wrapped protectively around my side.

Esme sighed, "Sometimes they forget that you're breakable."

Edward and Emmett were rough housing, instead of seriously fighting. But I could see what she meant; I would have been hurt if I had been standing where I had been.

They soon stopped, looking around as if they just realized that they had an audience. This set us all laughing.

The next day, Jacob said as he pulled into the Ulley's driveway, "Be out here at three thirty like Hiro will be so Josh doesn't get suspicious."

"Right," I said, nodding in agreement as I hopped out of the car.

Josh, Hiro, and McKenna waved as I made my way to the house. Josh said, "Glad you could make it. We were all starting to worry that the snow would keep you away."

"YOU were starting to worry," Hiro said. "Nothing would keep Sara away; she would have walked here if someone couldn't drive her!"

I hated to admit it, but it was true. I would have walked. How far I would get is an entirely different story…

McKenna laughed at Hiro's statement though, as did Josh. McKenna stopped since she noticed I wasn't laughing. "Seriously? You'd walk here?"

"Yeah, sad I know," I said smiling a bit.

McKenna said, "You're one strange person…with weird friends!"

"I know that as well," I said, smiling fully now. "I have VERY weird friends." This statement set off a snowball fight. I got pelted with three snow balls before I managed to dive for cover behind a tree.

Scooping up some snow, I threw the first one I made at McKenna, as I dove for another tree. It continued like this for a minute or two before we each had found our own tree to shelter behind.

Making a mound of snowballs, I peeked out from behind my tree. Apparently, the others were still making their own stash of snowballs. I thought about trying to sneak up on them, but I decided against it, remembering the disastrous result from the last time I did that.

I sat with a snowball in hand, waiting for someone to peek out. I wasn't disappointed! Hiro peeked out from behind his tree and I threw a snowball at him. I couldn't help laughing at the surprised expression on his face…at least what I could see past the snow!

I stopped laughing as I got hit with a snowball in the face as well. McKenna was laughing from her tree, but she soon got hit with a snowball, courtesy of Josh, who was then thanked for his chivalry by getting hit with a snowball from me.

As our epic snow battle continued, I noticed, for the first time that McKenna was wearing a winter coat. Knowing that Jacob and the other werewolves never wore winter wear I felt very bad for her. She must be boiling in her coat. So, to help, I hit her with another snow ball… What? It would help to cool her off…sort of! Plus it would hide the fact that she was sweating!

Sitting in Josh's house, sipping hot chocolate, after the snowball fight I noticed with a satisfied smile that we were all relaxed around the other. No glares being shot at someone, no tension hanging in the air like a dark cloud, and no suspicion about what the other might be hiding. We were simply friends who accepted the others for who they were. We're not bringing the "what" part into it!


	32. Chapter 31: Menacing

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

As with my Freshmen year, the rest of the year seemed boring, and all though a couple Junior boys asked me to go to prom with them, I declined for several reasons, most of which dealt with either A) My parents *cough, Carlisle, cough*, B) my brothers non-stop laughter, C) My sisters overbearing fashion sense (mainly Rosalie and Alice), and D) I don't dance. All that aside, as I said earlier, the year was boring...however, my family seemed to be getting more and more protective of me, unwilling to keep me out of their sights for more than a minute. Also, every time the TV was on and I entered a room, they would quickly shut it off. McKenna was even acting weird…

All that aside, summer rolled around again, and I wasn't about to miss it. My family, on the other hand had different ideas…

"Please, Dad!" I begged, tired of being stuck in the house. The sun was gracing Forks with a rare appearance, it was warm outside, and I had been invited to McKenna's to hang out with my friends, and my parents were saying no.

Carlisle looked like he was in pain as he shook his head no for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Please!"I begged again. Normally, I wouldn't be acting so childish, but like I said, I was tired of being cooped up.

Esme walked up to Carlisle and touched his arm, "I'm sure she'll be fine…" I could pretty much tell what she would have added, _"The werewolves will keep an eye on her."_

Carlisle sighed, "All right, you may go. I'll drive you to the border where you'll meet McKenna."

"I'll call McKenna right now!" I said, happy to finally be going outside.

Once I was in the dining room, I dialed McKenna's number. I was glad when I heard McKenna's voice, "Hello?"

"Hi, McKenna, it's me, Sara," I stated.

McKenna sounded crestfallen, "Let me guess you can't…"

"I can come!" I said enthusiastically, interrupting her.

Her voice sounded happier, "Good. I'm glad! It's wrong of them to be reacting this way…" She trailed off.

"You know why they're acting like this?" I questioned.

"Yeah…I'll tell you later," McKenna said. "See you soon, bye." She hung up.

I stared at the phone, dumbfounded. So McKenna really did know what was going on with my family. At least later today I would learn the reasoning behind my family's over protectiveness.

Walking towards the dining room door, I paused, listening as I heard my parents arguing. I bit my lower lip. This wasn't the first time that they had fought in the last couple of months, and their arguments seemed to be getting louder in tone with each one.

Esme said; as I cracked the door open ever so slightly, "We should really tell her what's going on."

"She doesn't need to be scared of something that might not even happen," Carlisle stated.

"Sara has the right to know though," Esme persisted. "Look what happened last time!"

I was hoping I would hear more, but Carlisle said then, "Sara. We've taught you not to eavesdrop."

I opened the door fully, looking sheepish. Stupid vampire senses. "Sorry," I muttered, not feeling sorry in the slightest.

"Does McKenna know you're coming?" Carlisle asked, changing the subject.

I nodded, "Yeah, she knows."

"Then let's go," Carlisle said, moving swiftly upstairs and to the front door in the blink of an eye.

I followed him out the door, and blinked rapidly when he stepped out into the sunlight, his skin capturing it and then reflecting it out like a living diamond. He paused, when he didn't hear me following him. "Sara, are you all right?"

"Yeah," I said, still blinking as my eyes adjusted to my new, sparkly father. Personally I liked it better when it was cloudy; at least I could look at my father without being blinded!

I was happy when he finally reached the shade of the garage where the sun couldn't reach his skin. He slid into the driver's seat, and I slid in to the passenger's seat, buckling my seat belt.

As Carlisle started the car, he said, smiling, "Next year you're taking Drivers' Ed, aren't you?"

"Yeah," I said, nervously. I had put off taking Drivers' Education for two years now, mainly because I was afraid that I'd pick up my family's bad habit of speeding.

Carlisle nodded, "Let me know when you start wanting to get some practice in."

"I don't have a permit," I stated.

He smiled, "Your principal called me earlier this week. He said as long as you practice in a parking lot, you'd be fine."

"Great," I said, unenthused. Yes. I'm completely strange. I have absolutely no desire to drive a car.

Carlisle took his eyes off the road to look at me, "I know you're scared, but you'll do fine."

"If I get into an accident I won't be," I muttered, darkly.

I must have struck close to home. At least, when it came to what was bothering my family, "Nothing will happen to you. I _**swear**_ it." He said the last part so softly that I almost didn't catch it. I'm still not sure I actually heard him!

We got to the border in no time at all. (Gee! I wonder why! Note sarcasm.) McKenna was waiting for me, in her wolf form, her sleek red and white fur shone in the sunlight.

"I'll be waiting here at six after Hiro and Josh have left McKenna's," Carlisle said.

I nodded, "All right, Dad. Love you!" I kissed his cheek.

"I love you too," he said, pulling me into a one armed hug, and kissing my cheek.

Opening the car door, and closing it, I walked towards McKenna who looked like she was going to throw up.

"You all right?" I asked, concerned. Then it dawned on me as McKenna gave a wolfish grin. "Just because you find vampires disgusting doesn't mean that I do."

She raised her head, rolling her eyes, before she dipped into a bow. I moaned, "Do I have too?" I got an annoyed huff in answer.

"Fine," Grumbling I crawled onto McKenna's back.

Straightening up, McKenna took off, bounding through the forest, swerving around trees and leaping over brush.

Halting, so that I was almost thrown her neck, McKenna glanced back at me as she stood in the middle of her driveway.

Still grumbling, I dismounted, "Warn me before you stop next time!"

Barking with laughter, McKenna trotted back into the trees. I noticed that on her left hind leg there was a small parcel attached just below her hock. At least it looked small on her massive form! I figured that the parcel contained McKenna's clothes.

Jogging back out of the trees, McKenna was still laughing. I said, knowing that she wouldn't be insulted by it now, "Laugh it up, Furball!"

"Oh, sure, pick on the shape shifter, Leech Lover," McKenna teased.

Through the rest of the school year, McKenna and I had taken the insults that the werewolves and vampires used against each other and turned them into, well, nothing more than meaningless names. They didn't hurt either McKenna or I when they were used, since we only used them jokingly.

"So…what do you know about what's bothering my family?" I asked.

McKenna shook her head, "Later. Josh and Hiro just arrived."

I gritted my teeth in frustration. Why couldn't they have taken a little longer to get here?

Time dragged. Now, don't get me wrong, I was glad to be out of my home and away from my overprotective family, and I did really have fun with Hiro, Josh, and McKenna, with the swimming, cliff diving, and just talking on the beach. But with the secret of what was bothering my family about to be put out into the open, I just wanted to talk with McKenna.

I was probably far too happy when Hiro and Josh finally left McKenna's house at five, giving me a full hour to talk with McKenna.

"So…what's going on?" I asked once Josh and Hiro were on their way home via Josh's dad's truck.

McKenna looked uncomfortable, "Well…I can't tell you…exactly."

"What?" I shouted in disbelief. "You said you could tell me and now you're telling me you can't?"

"Jacob forbade any of our pack from telling you…he even used his alpha voice, something he doesn't like doing," McKenna said, looking sheepish.

"Alpha voice?" I asked.

She nodded, "When we're in our wolf forms, and the alpha commands us to do something, they get a power to their thoughts, or voice, like an added echo or pressure to their words. Everyone has to obey, and Jacob doesn't like making us obey him, but…he knows that I have a big mouth." She blushed.

I couldn't help smiling. McKenna was a gossip, so her keeping a secret was hard, unless you were her friend. Keeping a secret from her friends was taboo as far as she was concerned.

"So you basically can't tell me anything," I stated rather than asked.

McKenna smiled, "Well, you're usually a good guesser! I was thinking that you could guess!"

"Guess?" I questioned.

"Yep! Here's the first hint to help you guess, since I can talk about it!" She said, grinning. "Remember what happened last year? You could say that it was the highlight of the year for us shape shifters!"

"That lone vampire, that's what you're talking about, right?" I asked.

McKenna nodded, now beaming, "Yes!"

The wheels in my brain started to go full speed as I rationalized, "But one vampire wouldn't get my family, or you guys all worked up… It has to be many vampires… And they have to be eluding you! If that's the case...!"

"Yes, that's exactly it!" McKenna said. "I can tell you this next part, they're tricky, they keep going to places where we can't scent them. It's so frustrating!"

"How many?" I asked. McKenna looked distracted so I started to guess, "Four?" She shook her head back and forth. "Five?" Again, back and forth, "Six? Seven? Ei-…" I stopped as she nodded. "Seven? There are seven of them?"

"Yes, and they keep ranging between La Push and Forks…like they're looking for something. Plus, don't ask me how many males or female! We need to head to the border, I'll be right back!" She jogged into the forest, which now seemed menacing, holding menacing predators who were smart enough to know how to avoid detection.


	33. Chapter 32: Helpless

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

McKenna came bounding back, her red and white fur glistening in the sunshine as she approached. I noticed the reason as soon as I was seated on her back. "You took a brief swim didn't you?" I got a barking laugh in response.

Once I had a handful of her neck fur she took off, and I couldn't help feeling jealous of her as she wove her way easily through the trees, and leapt over logs that I would have had to scramble over, if I could even get over them. There even came a point in time where McKenna had to duck under a log, and we easily made it, McKenna not even breaking her stride.

Without warning, she stopped, and I was nearly thrown over her head. "What the he-?" I stopped as I heard a growl rumbling in my friend's chest. "What is it?" I asked in a low tone. I tried to follow her gaze, but I couldn't see anything. This is where Edward would be helpful with his mind reading so I could learn what was wrong. Then McKenna did something that scared me even more, she whined, before she took off again towards the border.

As the border came into my sight, I squinted, surprised to see two figures leaning against the black Mercedes. McKenna slid to a jarring halt that really did throw me over her head this time. I registered that one of my two family members had snarled, but I couldn't quite register who since I was too busy trying to count the stars above my head.

Two strong, cold hands lifted me off the ground, which surprised me since that meant someone would have had to cross the border, but I heard Carlisle snap, "Next time don't do that if you want her to come to La Push anywhere in the near future!"

A whine came from McKenna, and I heard Edward translate, "She's worried, she smelled blood close to here, and McKenna's pretty sure that she scented the…vampires as well."

"Edward!" Carlisle said, shocked.

Edward said, "McKenna told her, she already knows."

Carlisle sighed, "That means we have a lot of explaining to do once we're home. Thank you for bringing her here, McKenna."

I heard the dull thud of her paws as she took off, and I glanced up, the stars gone from my vision, as Edward called to McKenna, "Let the others know as well!"

An amazing, eerie, howl split the air as McKenna stopped, her head tilted back towards the sky.

"Wow!" I breathed.

Edward nodded, "She's letting those that are not in their wolf forms know that she is investigating something and wants them to help her out."

"Are you all right?" My dad asked, as he set me, on my feet.

I nodded, "Yeah, I didn't get thrown that hard."

"Then let's go," Carlisle said, glancing around. "If they've been here…" They hurried me into the car, and started driving even before I had my seat belt on.

"Dad…" I started to say.

He cut me off though, "When we're home. Then we'll explain."

I sulked, feeling helpless once again. _Sure, leave the human out of the loop, but everyone else knows what's going on!_

Edward glanced back at me in the rear view mirror, and I sulked even more. I couldn't even keep my thoughts to myself at the moment!

At the house, I was seated on the couch, while my family stood uneasily around me, unsure of what to say or do. This situation, sort of, resembled when I had found out that they were vampires, but now, I just wanted them to tell me why they had kept the fact that seven vampires were in the area and why they were acting so protective. Granted, I could probably figure out that last part.

Carlisle was the one to break the silence, "Sara, as McKenna told you…"

"More accurately as you guessed," Edward put in.

"There are seven vampires in the area," Carlisle continued, not paying attention to Edward. "What do you want to know about this situation, since you now know?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, quietly.

Esme answered, "We didn't want to worry you."

"Were you EVER going to tell me?" My voice rose in volume, though I thought I kept the anger out of my voice.

Carlisle nodded, "Of course we were. We were actually planning on telling you tomorrow so you would understand why we were reluctant to let you out of our sight." He continued, apparently reading my mind, "You know how much you mean to us, that's the only reason we did what we did."

I looked away from them, I couldn't even bring myself to ask my next question, because I knew what the answer would be. Instead, I asked, "Can I go upstairs?"

Carlisle's gaze became filled with worry, "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just a bit tired," I lied, hoping that my weird ability would kick in. Apparently it did since Edward didn't' say anything or maybe Bella was giving me some privacy. I headed upstairs, feeling their worried gazes on my back, but I didn't want to look back, feeling the tears at the corners of my eyes. I kept praying Jasper wouldn't follow me or say anything either, I just wanted to be alone for a little bit with the misery that was ready to spill over.

Reaching the sanctuary of my room, I collapsed onto my bed, and cried silently. I was useless and utterly helpless! There wasn't anything I could do to help my family or my friend, McKenna to face this new threat except stay out of their way. There was another option, but I didn't want to consider it, but I couldn't help thinking it: _what if I told them that I should leave? Or maybe that I want to leave? But that would break their hearts along with my own…but what else can I do to help but leave?_ With those happy thoughts I dozed off, tears still falling down my cheeks.


	34. Chapter 33: Reassurances

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I woke up to someone stroking my back. Moving a bit, I saw my father sitting on the edge of my bed. He paused as I moved, "Feeling better?"

"Not really," I answered, truthfully.

He looked at me, his amber eyes trying to tell how I was feeling, "I could probably help you to feel better if you told me what was bothering you."

I remained silent, and went back to lying on my side. What could I say to him? That sending me away would help out? I had no guarantee that that would even be the case.

When I didn't answer him, he went back to stroking my back. He said quietly, "I'll wait for you to answer… I don't like it when you're upset like this. This is one of the few times that I wish that I was a mind reader like Edward…"

I must have dozed off again, because the next thing I knew, my mother was sitting on my bed, next to Carlisle.

Esme smiled when she saw that I was awake, "Are you hungry at all?" I nodded. "I'll go make you something to eat then," she said, standing up gracefully. As she moved to the door she inquired, "Anything in particular that you want?"

I couldn't help smiling; I knew just what I wanted to eat, "Pizza?"

"All right then," Esme said, smiling as she walked out of my room, softly closing the door behind her.

My father was still stroking my back, and I admitted to myself that I felt better, so I said, quietly, knowing he'd hear, "Thank you."

He paused in stroking my back, "Why are you thanking me? I'm your father; I'm supposed to comfort you."

I moved a bit so my head was resting on his thigh, the back of my head resting against his stomach. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too," Carlisle said, now stroking my hair. "Now will you tell me what is bothering you? Your mother, your siblings, and I have been very worried."

"I didn't think it was that obvious," I muttered, blushing.

Carlisle smiled, "Jasper said that he sense that you were upset once you were upstairs."

"Figures," I mumbled.

"Now will you explain to me what is bothering you?" He questioned.

I thought about what I wanted to say, "I'm useless and utterly helpless… I can't do anything to help everyone with these vampires except possibly leaving the state of Washington."

"Out of the question," Carlisle said instantly.

I sat up and nodded, "That's what I figured… Isn't there anything that I could do to help?"

Carlisle looked thoughtful before he finally said, "Let me think on it, all right? I'd prefer that you weren't in harms way."

Before I could say anything, Esme walked in, carrying the pizza tray, "Thanks, Mom!" I said, my mouth watering. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was.

She set the tray down, and I know she said something to Carlisle, but she said it so quickly that I couldn't tell what either of them said.

With a kiss on my forehead, she left the room once again. Taking a slice of pizza I said, "Can I at least not be cooped up so much? It's not like I'm completely defenseless."

"That's where you're wrong," Carlisle said. "I hope you don't need me to demonstrate the dangers of a mature vampire again."

"No thank you!" I said, remembering that a vampire was the ultimate predator.

He sighed, before he said, "You're right that it is not fair for us to keep you in the house so much…"

"I still want to help too," I grumbled.

Carlisle pulled me against his side, "Rest assured, whatever your mother and I decide is in your best interest."

"But…" I started to say, but I couldn't find the words for my thoughts. But Carlisle waited for me as I struggled to put words to thoughts, "I don't want you or anybody from my family to get hurt just because of me."

Carlisle said, "You're ahead of everyone and everything at the moment. We're still not sure what these vampires are looking for. They might not be looking for you."

"But you think they are?" I guessed.

Carlisle nodded, "We all do. We'll protect you, and do all we can for you to keep you alive."

"Can't you just change me now?" I demanded as one more option to help came into my mind.

"No," Carlisle said. "Even if I did change you now you would not be of much assistance, newborns may be stronger than a mature vampire but they can easily be outmaneuvered."

I sulked, leaning heavily against him, "I am just a burden."

"Not a burden," he whispered as he kissed my forehead. "Just our daughter."

A feeling of warmth spread through me when he said that. "That means a lot, Dad."

He kissed my cheek, "It's true. Your mother and I love you very much, and we'd do anything to protect you."

Something bothered me when he said that, so I asked, "Will that change if I become a vampire?"

"Our love for you?" Carlisle guessed. "No. We will always love you as our daughter, regardless of how fragile you may or may not be."

I caught the hint of a smile in his voice. "I needed to hear that," I whispered.

"I know," he kissed my other cheek. "I know you've been feeling a bit…lost…ever since we told you that you were adopted…"

I cuddle against his side, "That's why you're DEFINITELY my father."

Carlisle laughed softly as he hugged me, "I'm glad that you're feeling better now."

_**Putting one more chapter up today since this one is kind of short!**_


	35. Chapter 34: Still There

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

It seems as soon as summer began it was coming to a close, the seven vampires had not left the area, though the seemed to be traveling in the area less often. I was ecstatic about that, since my family decided that I would be all right in I ventured outside of the house and their line of sight every now and then.

The summer was fun between Josh, Hiro, McKenna and I, we had done all the usual stuff, swimming, cliff-diving, sleep overs (never at my house), campfires on the beach, and all the other fun stuff of summer.

On the last night of our summer vacation (at least for those of us that attended to Forks High School), we sat on the beach, a campfire burning. Our parents had all agreed that we could spend the night out on the beach; we had everything we needed from s'mores to tents!

It was nice, the fire warm, all of us were currently roasting hot dogs, even though we were all eyeing the Hershey's chocolate bag and marshmallows' bag.

Hiro was the first to pull his hot dog out of the fire, the hot dog mostly black. Smirking, Hiro grabbed the hot dog to put it on a bun. He yelped with pain and his hot dog landed right back in the fire, "Dang it!"

I laughed, "That's why you use the bun to take it off the stick, not your fingers!"

"Now I have to cook another hot dog!" Hiro grumbled, casting a look at the Hershey's bag.

Josh said, his tone teasing, "Don't worry, we'll save you enough chocolate for ONE s'more!"

"What?" Hiro said, amusement showing in his eyes.

McKenna fidgeted, and I felt a stab of sympathy for her. Even though most werewolves chose to tell the one person they imprinted on right away, McKenna had decided not to tell Hiro, it was killing her though, unable to show her affection for him. It didn't help that Hiro still seemed to have feelings for me, sitting on my right, while Josh sat on my left, McKenna on his left. Hiro seemed determined to show that he was still in the "competition" for my heart. What competition he was thinking of was beyond me, considering Josh was true to his word…we were simply friends.

Josh was the next one to pull his hot dog out of the campfire, using the bun to pull the hot dog off the stick. He stood up, and I had to do a double take. Now, I realize that with the seven vampires wandering around I hadn't been around my friends a lot, but Josh TOWERED over all of us, even if we had been standing, Hiro and I would have been up to his chest, and McKenna, would have been up to his shoulders, he was over six feet tall.

I glanced at McKenna, and she nodded. My appetite faded. McKenna's nod confirmed what she and I, along with the rest of the werewolves in La Push had been fearing; more of the "youth" (I use that term loosely) with the genetics for the transformation were starting to change thanks to the seven additional vampires in the area.

Josh glanced at the fire and commented as he sat down, "Are you purposely setting your hot dog on fire?"

I stared at him in confusion before turning my gaze to the fire, and jerking my burning hot dog out of the fire. "No! I didn't mean to set it on fire!" I blew/spat at the hot dog to put it out, setting the others into fits of laughter that lasted five minutes.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!" I grumbled, taking a bite out of my charcoal-hot dog. I glanced at the fire and smiled, "McKenna. Hiro. You're going to have the same problem I did."

They both glanced at the fire and their hot dogs, yanking them out of the flames and blowing on them, Josh and I laughed. If I had looked half as silly as Hiro and McKenna did, then I could see why they had laughed.

We each had one hot dog each, none of us trusting ourselves to make any more, considering that we were all prone to remembering the incidents of burning hot dogs and bursting out into laughter, causing the others to laugh.

So, the only logical thing to do was roast marshmallows. We all sat with about four marshmallows on each of our sticks and two bars of Hershey's chocolate sitting next to each of us. (Hey, that's what best friends do…they don't trust each other with chocolate!)

Josh and I had similar methods to roasting our marshmallows…set them in the flames, let them catch fire, blow them out. To say the least, McKenna and Hiro were right in not trusting us with the chocolate!

I reached for my chocolate, and felt my hand brush Josh's hand (he had also reached for his chocolate), we both stared at each other, and I could see it in his eyes, it was killing him, as much as it was killing me to be just friends, unable to see where our spark could take us.

I broke away from his gaze, grabbing my chocolate at the same time, feeling stupid, not to mention confused. _I must be imagining things…he WANTED to be just friends! But that look…_ I glanced at him, and saw that he looked how I felt. A small sigh escaped him, before he glanced my way, I quickly looked away. No need to make our relationship any more complicated then it was.

Between the four of us, the chocolate was gone in no time, and so were the hot dogs, which we eventually finished without bursting into laughter.

Hiro glanced around, and asked, "What should we do now? It's still pretty earlier."

McKenna suggested a gleam in her eyes that made me wonder what she was scheming, "Why don't we look around the beach in pairs and see which pair can find the most interesting place or object?"

"Sure," Josh agreed.

Hiro nodded, "Sounds interesting."

"Why not?" I somewhat agreed. Now I understood the gleam in her eyes. I swear she should not be able to transform into a wolf, but a fox!

McKenna was beaming, "Hiro and I will be a team, and Josh and Sara can be another, we'll have…an hour to wander around and see what we can find."

We all nodded, before each pair headed in a different direction, Hiro and McKenna heading inland while Josh and I made our way towards the cliffs.

Josh had to pause several times, since I lagged behind, my short legs unable to keep up with his long ones, but neither of us minded. Reaching the tops of the cliffs, we both stared, open-mouthed, at the sight that greeted our eyes.

Minke whales were leaping out of the water, their dolphin-like shapes easy to distinguish, along with their speckled hides, and their length. Their bodies were completely out of the water a few times, as they leapt and splashed about. Even though there were only four of the whales, it was a magnificent site to see, the full moon above only adding to the effect they created.

Josh said, breaking the silence that had fallen between us as we watched the whales, "I've never seen them before, I only heard that they stay somewhat close to the shore."

"They're spectacular," I said, still in awe of their leaping abilities.

I felt Josh grab my hand, his skin warm against mine, but I took no notice, I looked at him, surprised. He said quietly, "They're not the only thing that's spectacular, and I know that I've been wasting both of our times saying that we should only be friends… I can't keep pretending that I like you as nothing more than a friend."

"I know how you feel," I murmured, unable to meet his gaze. Since he was close to going through the process of turning into a wolf, I had a feeling that his feelings for me would change drastically. Especially once he learned about my family. Josh heard something in my voice that made him pull his hand away. "But…" I said, deciding to lie a bit, "I'm going through some things at the moment that won't allow me to have a boyfriend."

Josh seemed crestfallen, but he said, "My feelings won't change. They'll still be the same whenever you can have a boyfriend." He winked then, a smile on his face as he took my hand again.

I couldn't pretend that I didn't like him holding my hand like that. It gave me a warm feeling inside, and a chill that ran up my spine, but it was a pleasant chill, the whole thing was pleasant to be honest.

My happiness with Josh wouldn't last long though, as I was, only too soon, to find out.


	36. Chapter 35: Appearance

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

The first day of our Junior year, Hiro told me that Josh had come down with a severe case of the flu, while McKenna told me that he was getting very close to transforming into a wolf. Drivers' Ed. was not as bad as I thought it would be, the first half of the class was to be purely classroom. I did call Josh one day; to see how he was doing, but the phone just kept ringing and ringing. I was starting to wonder if his transformation had occurred, and what his father had told him.

School, otherwise, was positively boring. The only interesting classes being Art III, Biology III, British Literature I, and P. E., otherwise, math, and all the other courses were positively boring and in some cases, a strain on my sanity (or what's left of it).

August turned into September, and September into October. Josh had not called anybody, not McKenna, not Hiro, and most definitely not me. I could only assume that he hated me with every fiber of his being since I lived with the very beings that caused him to transform into a wolf. I was starting to get angry with him though. I could understand him not wanting to talk with me, but Hiro?

It was only the third day of October, and Hiro was sulking at the lunch table. Not even the sunny day outside could cheer him up. He asked, for perhaps the zillionth time, "What could we have done to tick Josh off so much? Not talking to us isn't like him! Even when he got mad, he ALWAYS told me right away what I did, or someone else did to piss him off! I just don't get it…"

Lunch suddenly didn't seem appealing to me anymore. Hiro was the one most hurt by Josh's silence. Josh and Hiro had been friends for about as long as Hiro and I had been friends. A friendship like that wasn't easy to let go of: _but it obviously doesn't matter to Josh!_ I thought angrily.

McKenna touched my right arm, and I unclenched my fists, which I had clenched with my anger towards Josh.

Hiro was watching me, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, fine," I lied. I put on a false smile, "I'm sure Josh will call one of us soon! He's probably just busy with school like the rest of us!"

Hiro obviously didn't believe me, probably because he knew that I was lying. I sighed as the bell rang, and walked with McKenna and Hiro up to the garbage to throw out our half eaten lunches.

I barely registered that the bell rang at the end of the school day, math having fried my brain till it was nothing but mush…or at least that's how it felt! Grabbing my books, I headed to my locker, checking for any messages on my cell phone…there weren't any.

I frowned and said to myself, "That's odd…" My parents always called on sunny days to tell me who was picking me up, be it Quil or Jacob, or Charlie. It worried me a bit that they hadn't called, but I decided not to worry. I headed towards Hiro's locker, but changed direction when I saw that McKenna was talking with him. McKenna wouldn't appreciate it if I interrupted a conversation of hers, especially when she was talking to Hiro. So, I headed for the school doors, and the sunshine that was outside.

Once I was outside I glanced around the parking lot, looking for any familiar cars, and I couldn't find any. Shrugging, I started to walk home.

Okay, so I know that walking home probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I was tired of being treated like an invalid who needed to be in constantly watched by one person or another.

I had made it to the outskirts of town without any incidents, so I decided to call Edward (who always had his cell phone on) to make sure that I wasn't supposed to wait for anyone to pick me up, and if I had been, to tell them that I was at the edge of town. (See? I'm not completely irresponsible!)

His phone didn't even ring. It sent me automatically to voice mail. I ended the call, not worried. Perhaps he and Bella were at their cottage, wanting to be alone and undisturbed.

Sighing, I started walking towards my house, and there was nothing that bothered me until I was only a mile or two from the driveway…

The sound of wind rushing through the trees, made me pause, unnerved. There had not been a breeze all day, and there still wasn't one. I strained my ears for the slightest sound, but none came. Wary, I continued on my way, only to stop again as the sound came again.

"Edward? Jazz? This isn't funny," I said, nervously. The sound came again, and I spun around, surprised to see five vampires poised behind me, none of them belonging to my family.

Five unfamiliar vampires: two of them were females, with super model bodies, and blond hair that went down to their butts. The other three were males, one had spiked red hair, the other had blond hair, tied into a pony tail, and the last one had no hair at all, only tattoos on his head, even where his eyebrows should have been. The bald one scared me more than the other four, his tattoos seeming to enhance his blood red eyes.

He was also the leader, apparently, since he spoke, a southern accent in his voice, "So…you know the Cullens?" He grinned at me, which made me give an involuntary shudder of fear. "What should we do with her?" He glanced at his companions.

"I don't know, Julian," one of the females answered, sinuously pressing her body against him. "Why don't we drain her of her blood? A death for a death seems like a good idea since they killed one of ours."

The male with the red hair shook his head, "Let's toy with her a bit, but not kill her, leave her with a few broken bones. That way, we can leave them a message they MIGHT understand."

The bald one, Julian, sighed, considering the suggestions that he had been given. My heart banged against my chest, and my brain kept sending signals to my body to move, to do something, but my body wasn't about to respond. A sigh escaped Julian, "Music to my ears…the sound of your frantic heartbeat…"

Another shudder went through me. Why had I walked home? I could have just stayed at the school, where the worst that could happen would be bullies. I was now faced with the prospect of dying, and I didn't like it one bit, but panic was overruling any of my survival instincts.

Julian looked at them all, "Only two of us need deal with one human… Brett. Trisha. Deal with her however you see fit." With that he, the one blond female, and the blond male bolted into the trees.

Brett, the red haired one, grinned, "I still say let's toy with her."

"Yes, let's, my love," the female, Trisha agreed as she started forward, and my legs finally decided to work, as I stumbled backwards, tripping over a bump in the road. Trisha loomed over me, her fangs bared, when she froze, her gaze filled with terror, "Run, Brett!"

"What?" Brett growled, enraged, obviously unaware of whatever danger Trisha was aware of.

"Just go!" She screeched. Brett, with a last, longing glance at her, darted into the trees.

I wondered what had struck such terror in the female, when I got the answer in the sound of a deep snarl, as a black wolf stalked out of the trees flanked by a gray wolf on his left (who I now knew was Paul) and a white wolf that I had never heard any mention of from Jacob or McKenna.

I was relieved to see Sam and his pack, not wondering in the slightest what they were doing on Jacob's territory at that precise moment. Two more wolves filed out behind Sam, Paul, and the white one, but these were obviously young, new wolves, their ears laid back and their tails tucked between their legs in fright. The white one also seemed to be young, though not as young as the two behind it. The white one was nearly as big as Sam, though it looked like it was still developing.

My focus turned back to the female vampire as she crouched like a feral cat, and snarled at the wolves, "So, you finally managed to catch up with us? Let's see just how good you mangy mutts are!" She lunged forward, like a cat leaping on a mouse.

Time seemed to slow down as she leapt forward, and I could hear the thud of many paw steps as Sam and his four pack members rushed forward to intercept her. Some part of me thought that I could get out of the way on my own, my right arm going back to pull my body back, but before my legs or my left arm got the chance to move, teeth dug into my arm and dragged me backwards. I released a cry of pain as my arm was wrenched the wrong way as, whatever it was, dragged me backwards.

Whatever had grabbed me, released my arm, and I gasped, feeling the blood running down my arm where its teeth had dug in. Things still seemed to be moving slowly, as Trisha squirmed away from the wolf that had pinned her, striking its brown shoulder, which sent it flying into a tree where it landed with a yelp of pain and lay winded.

Trisha was now blood crazed, wanting the liquid that was spilling from my arm. She maneuvered around Paul whose jaws missed her head by millimeters, and she leapt over Sam, his own jaws snapping closed just short of her ankle.

Running blindly, Trisha was almost on top of me, her right arm stretched out to grab me; the other young wolf, a gray and white one, pounding after her, when something white sailed over me and struck her full in chest, sending both of them rolling away.

The white wolf, a bit of blood on its jaws (the white wolf was obviously the one that dragged me backwards) had Trisha pinned under him, its stormy grey narrows watching her as she struggled beneath his weight, her arms pinned by its forelegs, while its back legs were on top of her legs, keeping her immobile.

I rolled over with a groan of pain as my right arm gave a stab of pain, as the wolves started to tear Trisha apart. The snaps of her body being ripped apart the only thing that alerted me to what the wolves were doing.

After several seconds of ripping and tearing they stopped, and a cold nose touched the black of my neck. I rolled over to come nose to nose with Sam. He nudged me, and I understood that I was to get up. I got up, shakily, my right arm throbbing. With a low growl Sam stalked over to the white wolf, swung his head to the side and struck the white wolf's muzzle with his own, the crack echoing, along with the white wolf's yelp of pain. Sam growled something at the white wolf, which growled back something that apparently appeased Sam, who turned back to me.

A snarl sounded behind me, and a familiar reddish brown wolf bounded past me, and stood in front of me, growling.

That's when it dawned on me. Sam and his pack should not be in Forks, not that I was ungrateful, but Sam was trespassing on Jacob's territory, and Jacob was NOT happy.

A stream of growls, snarls, and barks was exchanged between the two alphas, and three more wolves came out from behind me, Seth, Quil, and McKenna. McKenna stood beside me on my left as the exchange between Jacob and Sam continued.

With a turn of his head, Jacob barked at McKenna, who settled onto her knees, nudging me with her head, hinting that I should get on. I managed to get on easily, but as McKenna rose, I clutched at her neck fur with my left hand, my right arm was unwilling to do as my brain commanded.

McKenna started to trot away, when a couple of growls from one of the wolves made her whip back around, causing me to topple off of her back, and land on my right arm. I silently screamed in pain. Whatever was wrong with my arm, I hoped the white wolf was allergic to my blood! I hoped this with all my heart considering the white wolf was the one who had caused McKenna to whip around as they snarled at each other. If it came to a fight, I wasn't sure who would win. McKenna was smaller, but she was faster (hopefully) then the larger, white wolf.

Jacob barked something at McKenna who, reluctantly, came back to me, and got onto her knees so I could get on her back again. This time it was a little difficult to get onto her back, now my right arm REALLY didn't want to cooperate, giving a throb of pain each time I jostled my arm.

McKenna took it slow, once I had finally gotten on, and made her way towards my house. Even though it was only a few minutes, it felt like hours as my right arm kept throbbing. She stopped in front of the porch, and I dismounted gracefully a.k.a. I fell on my butt, bracing myself with my left arm. McKenna trotted off into the woods, while I stood up and got onto the porch and tried to pull my keys out of my right pants pocket with my left hand.

I jumped as someone put a hand on my shoulder, but I relaxed as McKenna said, "Let me get your keys."

I was too tired too care about how stupid McKenna and I would have looked to any passerby (which there weren't any), and was just happy when she unlocked the door and I walked in, hoping for my father to come up, looking anxious and who would start to treat my injuries right away or for one of my moving ice packs… I had no such luck.

"Where are they?" I asked, in a quiet voice.

McKenna answered, guiding me to the couch, "Same as us, we were following a trail of two of them that strayed awfully close to Hiro's house. I, of course, joined the hunt later on, but then we crossed the scents of Sam and his pack on our territory, along with the scents of the other five vampires, and followed their scents while your family continued to follow the other two vampires' scents."

"This was well thought out," I said, weakly, the hugeness of what had happened slowly starting to sink in. "They even went through the lope holes in Alice's visions, otherwise my whole family wouldn't have left."

"That's what's worrying Jacob right now," McKenna said, glancing out the window. "He ordered me to stay here with you. Another of the few times he reluctantly uses his alpha voice." She smiled half-heartedly, "He knows I wouldn't have obeyed him if he hadn't ordered me." Now she really was smiling, "He says that he's never had to give out ANY alpha orders until I came along."

I laughed, though it was forced. The bald vampire, Julian, had seemed to be the leader, if he was, he certainly seemed to have the control over the others, and Brett and Trisha had obeyed him without question. All this information pounded through my mind, along with the throbbing of my arm, until finally my mind had had enough, and I drifted off into a half-sleep; a sleep where you are vaguely aware of what was going on around you. Somewhere in the strange dream/awake sleep I was in, I registered that McKenna sat on the couch next to me, but that was about all that happened while the five vampires along with the white wolf snarled and fought in my dreams, sometimes against each other, and sometimes united against me. My family even entered my dreams…but that was also when they finally came home.


	37. Chapter 36: Bad Blood

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I opened my eyes and was relieved to see my father right in front of me, examining my arm, while Esme hovered anxiously behind him.

An annoying voice that didn't have his phone on when I needed it on said, "What idiot would walk home from school knowing that there are vampires wandering about? Oh that's right, you!"

"Edward!" Bella snapped, and I heard something crack, so I assumed that Bella had punched him in the shoulder.

Jasper said, "You really didn't need to punch him, Bella, it was just his way of saying he was worried about her."

"I know," Bella muttered. "But sometimes he needs to think before he speaks! She's been through enough without him being a nimrod!"

Carlisle lifted his gaze from my arm, and looked at me, his gaze filled with worry, "Where does it hurt?"

"Just my arm," I answered.

"How far up your arm," he questioned. "Can you move it?"

I tried to move my right arm, but inhaled sharply as it throbbed with pain. Carlisle gently pressed his hand in various spots on my arm, asking if it hurt. I didn't say yes until he reached my shoulder, where I squeaked, "YES!"

He nodded and muttered, "That's what I thought, you dislocated your shoulder."

I heard McKenna's voice from across the room, "SHE didn't dislocate it. That FLEABAG did!" McKenna must have moved as soon as she realized that my family was back. I figured she was referring to the white wolf when she said "fleabag".

Carlisle nodded, "I'm assuming that's who injured her arm as well by gripping it too tightly in its jaws?"

"Yes," McKenna practically growled.

Carlisle sighed, before he looked at me, "Sara, this is going to hurt…" He placed his hand on my shoulder. "Edward, run to the hospital and get me sling."

I didn't expect him to pop my shoulder back in place as he said that. To say that it would hurt was an understatement…it hurt A LOT! "Holy sh…!" I managed to bite back the cuss word that rose to my mouth, as tears of pain stung at the corners of my eyes.

McKenna must have either A) taken an aggressive step forward or B) started to tremble, because I heard Jasper say, "Easy, McKenna. She'll be a lot better off even if that did hurt a bit."

"A bit?" I gasped, the pain having left. "That did not just hurt a bit!"

"See?" Emmett said from somewhere behind me. "She's already back to her usual self!"

"Are you saying I'm grouchy?" I teased.

I could easily picture Emmett grinning, "Never!"

Carlisle sat on my right side, and I pressed myself against him, his cold body feeling great against my arm, "Thanks, Dad."

This was apparently too much for McKenna, who was still adjusting to my family, "If you don't need me, I'm heading back to report to Jacob."

"Thank you, McKenna," Esme said, smiling at her, as she sat down on my other side.

"Um…sure…no problem," McKenna said awkwardly, the door clicking shut behind her, signaling that she had left.

Carlisle startled me when he said, "Thank you, Edward." I jumped when I realized that Edward was standing right in front of me. He walked off to the piano and started playing on it softly, and Bella sat down next to him as he played.

Carlisle moved away from me and put my arm in the sling. I sighed, as Carlisle said, "You'll have to keep it in that sling for two or three weeks, and I'll be monitoring how well it heals. We don't want any complications."

"Right," I said, smiling slightly. The only good thing about the injury was that I would miss the two weeks of volleyball that we were supposed to do in P.E. Yay! I may be great at running, but I'm very uncoordinated when it comes to volleyball!

Rosalie spotted my smile, "Don't get any ideas about getting injured by vampires and wolves just to skip out of P.E."

"I actually like P.E.!" I defended myself. "Okay, apart from volleyball, I like P.E.!" Rosalie smiled a bit.

Alice said suddenly, "You're going to ask a question about the wolves aren't you?"

"You had a vision?" I guessed.

She smiled brightly, "Yep! Granted it keeps changing so I suggest you pick one question soon before I get a headache!"

I knew she was joking on that last part. At least I hoped she was joking. I went with, what I thought, was my simplest question, "What happened between Jacob and Sam to make them so…territorial? I mean…I know about the issue with Renesmee, and the Voltouri incident after that, along with Quil and Embry joining Jacob's pack, but from what you told me, they were on pretty good terms…"

They all exchanged uneasy glances (I have to assume that those who were out of my sight range also exchanged uneasy glances). Finally, Bella said, standing up from where she sat next to Edward, "They're were on pretty good terms, until some of the younger wolves started to join Jacob's pack, leaving Sam's."

This seemed to be the start of a story, so I moved closer to Esme, since Carlisle still hadn't moved closer. He moved once he saw me move closer to Esme, and wrapped his arm around both of us as Bella continued, "At first Sam didn't mind, since Jacob is, technically, supposed to be the alpha, but it when it left Sam with only a few wolves, he confronted Jacob, and demanded that Jacob step down." She paused, obviously remembering something, before she continued, "Jacob refused. Tensions rose between the two of them, until one day, at a council meeting in La Push, their tempers got the better of them and they fought right in front of the council…"

"They fought over something so trivial?" I wondered, thinking Bella had left some things out.

Bella sighed, "There was what I said, along with Sam's demand that Jacob leave La Push and simply guard Forks. Sam wanted to limit the number of wolves in Jacob's pack, along with a few…other things." I obviously wasn't going to get any more answers on that subject. Plus, I wasn't about to ask Jacob either! "The council gave them a compromise, Jacob and his pack could continue to reside in La Push, but they were not allowed to patrol the La Push borders, only Forks, and Sam was limited to only patrolling the La Push borders. He could not patrol Forks. Sam and Jacob agreed to the compromise…"

"So Sam has broken the compromise, twice now," I said, remembering my birthday two years ago.

Edward corrected me, "No. Your birthday did not count as a breach in the compromise. He only broke it today, and it will be brought up before the council at the next meeting." He saw my confused stare and said, "I read McKenna's thoughts and she was thinking about it before she left."

"There's more though, isn't there? Those can't be the only reasons Jacob and Sam are at such odds!" I persisted.

Bella sighed, "There's also the fact that he imprinted on Renesmee and brought her to La Push, but otherwise, you've heard all the reasons."

I frowned. It seemed stupid that they were fighting over such minute things. Edward answered my thoughts, "They've found that two alphas simply don't get along together unless absolutely necessary. Their instinct is to fight for territory since there are now two alphas."

"Still stupid," I grumbled. Irked that Edward had read my mind, again.

Carlisle commented, "It will probably be resolved simply, with no fighting. After all, without Sam and his pack…" He stopped, obviously not wanting to imagine what could have happened to me.

That brought something to the forefront of my mind, "What was with that white wolf?"

Edward shrugged, "McKenna had many nasty thoughts about that white wolf, but not any specifics on who it was."

I frowned. This was starting to become a very perplexing mystery on who the white wolf was. I kept remembering those stormy grey eyes…

Jasper muttered, "The two packs had better start working together soon instead of allowing bad blood to come between them."

I was instantly paying attention again. Bella sighed once again, giving Jasper a nasty look, "That's another one of the reasons; they've insulted each other to the extreme." That wasn't as interesting as I had hoped.

Later that night, I dreamt of a white wolf, with stormy grey eyes, but this time, the eyes weren't filled with the lust of battle or the happiness of ripping a vampire apart, but with affection, and a deep sadness that pierced my heart. The wolf blurred, and in its place stood Josh, the same stormy grey eyes gazing at me, but now, they were the eyes of the wolf, filled with the lust of battle, and eager to rip a vampire apart.

I awoke and moaned, not looking forward to the prospect of confronting Josh about ignoring Hiro. Not to mention I had a bone to pick with him about my arm!

**Sorry I forgot to update last week, so there will be one more chapter today!**


	38. Chapter 37: Storm

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Two weeks went past, my birthday drawing ever nearer, much to my immense horror. Carlisle and Esme were both having quite a time trying to convince Alice that she could not throw me a birthday party since I didn't like them. Alice kept insisting that people would have a grand old time, but when I asked her if I was having a good time she became oddly silent or abruptly changed the subject.

The best part of those two weeks flying past was that my shoulder was finally healed to my father's satisfaction, meaning I could go visit someone in La Push on Friday after school. (My parents believed that it was McKenna since Alice couldn't see anything apart from Edward dropping me off at the border.)

That morning, I woke up, trying not to show my nervousness. If Jasper or Edward thought that I was acting suspiciously/feeling agitated, they would start to expect something and tell my parents.

Yes. Everyone was on alert since Edward gleaned from my mind that I knew who the white wolf was, and at first, my family had kept a close eye on me to make sure I didn't do anything stupid like…punching a werewolf (Bella did that when she was human)! I wasn't that stupid though, I just wanted to talk with Josh, not that I was thinking about it a lot around my family.

I must have been acting strange though, since my mother asked, as she set my breakfast down in front of me, "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah," I answered right away. "Why do you ask?"

Esme frowned, "You're acting like you've got something on your mind."

That definitely wasn't true. I was struggling NOT to think about JOSH and scenarios for what could POSSIBLY happen when I TALKED to him.

I muttered, "I'm just tired, that's all."

She nodded, but my father walked in just then, and he asked, concerned, "You're not feeling sick, are you?"

"No," I sighed. If my family was like this for the rest of the day, I would never get to talk with Josh.

Carlisle smiled, "Late night?"

"Yeah." That was the truth. I kept having the same dream over and over again of a white wolf attacking my family and ripping them limb from limb, but just when I don't think the dream can get any worse, the wolf changes into Josh and stands there, grinning at me, a maniacal look in his eyes. It was a pretty unsettling dream; it usually took me fifteen minutes to calm myself down by reading a book.

"You really need to stop reading until the early hours of the morning," he scolded, a small smile on his face though. Obviously he had come upon me in the night when I had fallen asleep reading a book.

I smiled, "I know."

"Good," Carlisle said. "Now, eat your breakfast so I can take you to school. They want me at the hospital as early as possible today."

"Right," I said, digging into my breakfast of pancakes.

Carlisle laughed, "That doesn't mean that you have to inhale your food!"

I swallowed, "I need to get to school early anyway."

"I just don't want you to choke," he said.

I stood up and said, "Well, I didn't!"

He and Esme both laughed, as I walked into the kitchen and rinsed off my plate and utensils.

I came back out of the kitchen, and was embraced by my father, "It's good to see you in such good spirits again."

An unwelcome prickle of guilt came over me. I was lying to him and to the rest of my family who all thought I was doing exceptionally well considering that I had been attacked by a group of vampires.

He broke the embrace, "Go get your school thing so we can leave."

I nodded and darted up the stairs for my book bag and came back down within a minute. Carlisle was waiting by the door, and as I walked towards him, Esme glided out of the kitchen and kissed my cheek, "Have a good day at school, and don't overdo it in P.E."

"I'll try not to," I said, smiling.

I grabbed a rain slicker before I followed Carlisle out the door, yanking my hood up as the rain pounded down from above.

The ride to school was quiet, apart from the rain pelting the windshield and the roof of the Mercedes. Carlisle seemed to have a lot on his mind, so I let him be, letting my mind wander to what I was going to do once the school day ended.

School flew by in a blur. I barely registered when the school bell rang to signify that we needed to move to our next class, or when McKenna and/or Hiro talked to me. I did register when the final bell of the day rang, and I practically sprinted to my locker. I was more aware of my surroundings now as McKenna and Hiro came up to me.

Hiro asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, why would you ask that?" I answered, grabbing my book bag and rain slicker.

McKenna answered, "You were kind of out of it today."

"I just have things on my mind," I answered, which was partially the truth.

McKenna asked in a low tone, "Are you still worried about Josh?"

Someone needs to remind me who the mind reader is because I swear my father and McKenna can do it! "No. It has nothing to do with Josh," I lied.

"If you're sure," she said, not looking convinced.

I smiled at her, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine!"

We made our way out of the school into the rain that was now its usual annoyance: not pounding rain and not a drizzle, just rain.

I spotted Edward's silver Volvo, and made my way towards it, Hiro following me while McKenna headed towards where her father was parked in the parking lot.

I slid into the front passenger seat while Hiro tripped into the back (he had attempted to jump a puddle next to the car). Edward waited while we buckled our seat belts before he pulled out of the parking lot, asking, "How was school?"

Hiro and I both sighed. Nobody ever asked us that question but Edward, or I had done something wrong, which I hadn't…yet. I was seriously hoping that my weird ability was working as I answered, "Okay."

Edward frowned, focusing on me, "You and McKenna didn't make any plans for today?"

Hiro decided to answer, "She's been a bit distracted today." I sighed, at least he hadn't said that I wasn't going to McKenna's.

"I see," Edward muttered, casting glances at me as much as possible without looking like he was taking his eyes off the road. To say the least, it was a relief when we dropped Hiro off at his house and Edward started driving towards La Push.

He questioned as he parked the car at the border several minutes later, "You ARE meeting McKenna, right?"

"Yes," I answered. I pointed into the trees, "She should be waiting just in there, all right?"

His expression obviously said that it was not all right, but there wasn't much he could do about it. I thank God that my strange ability was working otherwise Edward would never have let me get out of the car and walk across the border into the trees, and out of his sight. I knew I was out of his sight once I heard his car drive away.

Taking a deep breath I started towards the Ulley's house, remembering the last time I had confronted a werewolf about what they were and why they had been avoiding us…something told me confronting Josh would not be like confronting McKenna.

I had reached the Ulley's driveway when I heard a door slam and I watched Josh walk towards me, wearing no shirt or shoes and his gaze was furious, but he wasn't looking directly at me. Once he was within talking distance he demanded in a hiss, "What are you doing here? I have NOTHING to say to YOU!"

"I just wanted to talk," I answered calmly.

This seemed to piss him off more, "Fine!" He glanced around before he gestured towards the trees and led the way, his long stride forcing me to walk faster. He led me into a small clearing that was surrounded by trees. He stood in the middle, rain dripping from his bangs. I noticed that his ponytail was gone, cut away, just like McKenna had had to do. "Well?" He demanded, still not looking directly at me.

"What's the deal with you avoiding Hiro and McKenna? I can understand avoiding me, but them?" I said, cutting right to the point.

"McKenna is apart of Jacob's pack," Josh practically growled, as if this statement cleared everything up. "And Hiro is your friend; I can't associate with him if my words will be told to you!"

This made absolutely no sense to me, so I said, "Why can't you associate with McKenna she knows what you're going through!"

Josh's eyes were blazing with rage now, though his gaze wouldn't focus on me, and I noticed that his fists were trembling, "She is apart of Jacob's pack. Jacob's pack protects the very thing that causes us to transform, your monster family!"

"They're not monsters," I said quietly, though a little warning was going off in my head, but I was starting to get angry.

Josh spat, "Aren't they? They drink human blood! I'm amazed they haven't feasted on you yet, but then again, you want to be one of them, don't you?"

"They do not drink human blood," I snapped. "The rest of their kind does though, like the ones that attacked me! My family would NEVER intentionally hurt a human!"

Josh snarled, "But they could do it unintentionally, but that doesn't matter to you, does it? So long as they're your precious blood suckers you don't care!" His fists were really shaking now. "You love monsters."

I couldn't help it, even with the warning going off in my head, I snapped, "They're not the monsters YOU ARE!" Josh's shaking started to get worse. "They at least try not to be monsters, YOU simply ignore your friends and decide that you can't possibly be a monster, even if you are EXTREMELY similar to them!"

Josh's shaking was reaching a whole new level, but his voice was strained as he whispered, "They choose to be what they are!"

"No," I said. "Only Bella wanted to be a vampire so she could be with Edward, otherwise they're like you. They didn't choose to be monsters." I should have left it at that since his trembling had started to lessen, and his gaze had become less furious, though he still avoided looking at me, but my anger wasn't done yet. "But at least they're fighting their natures, and at least they…" I held up my right arm which still bore the marks of his teeth, "Don't hurt people, no matter how much they may dislike them, intentionally."

I had pushed him over the edge, his trembling became violent, and with a ripping sound, a large, white wolf stood in his stead, snarling at me, and looking past me.

Now, a smart person would have cowered and backed away from a snarling creature, but as you must be aware of by now, I'm not that intelligent. I strode forward; my anger still not quenched and smacked his muzzle, bones in my left hand breaking as I did so. I clutched my hand to my chest, letting out a hiss of pain, but that pain was nothing.

Still snarling Josh stalked forward, still not looking at me, and swung his head, his muzzle cracking against the right side of my head. I hit the ground and rolled onto my back. Josh had retreated a couple paces, but he was now stalking forward, looking at a point above my head.

I was seeing three white wolves, their forms spinning around and around and around (you get the point) but I wasn't about to let him rip me to shreds. Perhaps the stupidest thing I had ever done, I waited for him to get closer, before I sprang at the center white wolf, not really thinking. I felt his ear near my mouth as I clutched his neck and I bit down on it with all my might, and held on closing my eyes.

Josh must not have expected me to do something so stupid, because he had not even bothered to swat me aside (considering that I had pathetic human reflexes versus his own enhanced ones) but I was now clinging for dear life to his neck, his right ear still in my teeth, his blood entering my mouth (tasted horrendous!)

Yipes of pure pain reached my ears, and made my head pound more than it already was. I felt Josh's muzzle hit my left side several times, his teeth managing to get my jacket, but nothing more. Apparently, I was hanging on to him in a spot where he couldn't quite get me.

My now, befuddled mind registered that I was no longer being thrown around and that Josh was standing still, his yipes having subsided to whimpers of pain. Someone grabbed me around the middle and started to pull me off, saying something, but I couldn't register what they were saying. All I knew was that if I let go I would surely be dead. I gripped Josh's neck all the more tightly, but whoever was trying to get me off broke my grip. Pulling me away, I felt fur and flesh go past my teeth, but some of it came with me. Josh yelped with pain, as I was pulled off of him. I spat out the foul, furry thing in my mouth, along with the blood.

Opening my eyes, the world was, thankfully, no longer spinning, nor was I seeing triple, though the pounding in my head seemed to have doubled in intensity. I glanced to my right as a black wolf stalked past towards Josh, my mind barely registering that it was Sam. He shoved Josh's shoulder with his head, but Josh seemed incapable of movement as he stared at me, with his storm grey eyes, blood dripping down his white fur from his mangled ear. His ear was now missing its tip, and I assumed that was what I had spat out.

With a growl, Sam managed to get him moving, though Josh kept glancing back at me, an unreadable look in his eyes.

A russet furred shape to my left drew my attention as a tongue licked my cheek.

"What were you thinking?" McKenna's voice reached my ears as she approached me, though her voice sounded oddly distant, "You could have been killed! You're lucky that he thought you were too dazed to attack him otherwise you would be dead!" My mind had now registered, as she stood with her arms crossed in front of her bare chest that she had not bothered to put any clothes on before storming out of the trees. I couldn't help it. I laughed, for some odd reason, finding her nudity funny. McKenna rolled her eyes as she took a couple of paces back and muttered, "Honestly!" Before she turned into a wolf and got down on her knees so I could get on her back. Jacob growled something at her, and she growled back, and thus began the exchanges of growls!

Getting on her back was easier said than done, my limbs not wanting to obey my brain as I struggled onto her back. It was several minutes later that I "sat" (I use that term loosely) on her back. McKenna started to walk Jacob on her left, pressing against my left knee, and a sandy brown wolf, Seth, on her right, pressing against my right knee. Every time I sway dangerously to one side, McKenna would stop as either Jacob or Seth would straighten me out again before we continued to wherever we were heading.

I could not tell you how long it took for them to get to my house, time seemed to either move quickly at some points or painfully slow at others. All I knew was that I was grateful when my father hurried out of the house and pulled me carefully off of McKenna's back, cradling me against his chest, which was a relief to my pounding head. "Thank you," he said gratefully. "If you would come inside so we may learn what happened…all we know is that you were bringing her home thanks to Alice."

What happened after that, I couldn't tell you, my vision going black at that moment. The next thing I knew was that a light was shining in my left eye and that I didn't like it. I opened my right eye, since the left was being held open, and I heard my father say as I saw him hovering over me, "Just as I thought, she sustained a concussion."

Edward said, "Yeah, and she's know awake."

The light moved away from my eye, as did whatever had been holding it open. I blinked a couple of times and started to sit up, only to find myself hindered by Carlisle. He cautioned, "Slowly, you don't want to get dizzy."

Doing as he said, I sat up slowly, the right side of my head hurt, but otherwise I felt fine. Carlisle questioned, "How do you feel?"

"The right side of my head hurts," I admitted.

He nodded, "That's to be expected."

I stiffened suddenly, remembering that I had lied to them about what I was doing after school. Catching my anxious gaze, Esme, who was standing behind Carlisle, said as she moved forward and gently touched my cheek, "We're not going to yell at you, but we're not going to pretend that we're not upset with you either."

Carlisle nodded, "You're grounded until your birthday."

"That's it?" I couldn't help asking. He raised an eyebrow, "Don't get me wrong! But you're not going to make my punishment longer?"

Carlisle sighed, "Getting a concussion seemed be more than enough." He glanced at how much I was leaning into my mother's hand, "How badly does your head hurt on a scale of one to ten."

"Six," I answered. Esme moved her hand away from my cheek as Carlisle pulled me into his arms and I gratefully pressed the right side of my head against his chest, the shirt he was wearing made of a thin material. I was starting to doze, and I barely registered that I was moved briefly as a blanket was wrapped around me before I was back in Carlisle's arms, my head against his chest again.

The next morning, I went through the same questions as the day before: did my head hurt? How bad was the pain? And the weekend followed in the same manner up until Monday where the questions varied: Do you want to stay home? Do you want a note to get out of P.E.?

My head had stopped hurting and even though I declined both staying home and getting out of P.E., Carlisle wrote a note to excuse me from P.E. just for today. I reluctantly took it.

The car ride to school was pretty quiet, my father asking me several times if my head hurt and if I was feeling all right which I kept answering "yes" too. I didn't get frustrated, though. He had every right to be worried about me.

As I got out of the car, pulling out my book bag from the back seat I closed the door and started to walk towards the school when I stopped dead in my tracks. Leaning against the entrance to the school, watching my approach with his storm grey eyes, was Josh.


	39. Chapter 38: Perplexed

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I was saved from going any nearer to Josh by McKenna and Hiro's arrival. McKenna glared at Josh, while Hiro walked up to his friend and shouted, "What the hell have you been up to?" His tone changed though, as he asked, "And what happened to your ear?"

Josh sighed, "Sorry about not returning your calls, but I've had a lot on my plate recently, including being ill."

Hiro was very forgiving, much to mine, and McKenna's disbelief, "It's all good, man! So…why are you here?"

I could tell that the conversation was going just how Josh wanted it too. "I transferred," he answered.

"And your dad let you?" McKenna practically snarled, as she stalked forward, dragging me along with her, for who knows what reason!

Josh muttered, "He doesn't exactly know yet…"

"Then how are you even able to come here?" McKenna snapped.

"I have my ways," Josh snapped back, giving McKenna a meaningful look. McKenna just glared.

Before the two could go at it any further, the first bell rang, indicating that we had five minutes to get to our first class.

Every time I was in a class with Josh, he sat next to me. To say the least, this unnerved me, and it unnerved me further when McKenna (is she and I were in the same class along with Josh) sat on my other side, shooting scathing looks at Josh.

The tension didn't ease as the day progressed; it just got worse and worse between McKenna, Josh, and myself. Hiro, of course, was oblivious to it all!

As we sat at the lunch table together, Hiro asked Josh again, "What happened to your ear?" This was when I noticed that the top part of Josh's ear was gone, looking like it had been bitten off.

Josh cast a quick glance my way, before he answered, "A little bat bit my ear, taking some of it with it."

"Ouch!"

"Yeah," Josh muttered, touching his ear, " 'Ouch is putting it mildly."

I snorted, trying to contain my laughter, and much to my dismay, Josh didn't glare at me, instead, he seemed quite okay with my contained laughter, even happy about it…something was seriously wrong, whether it was with or my head, I wasn't sure. I was starting to feel happy about the note I had to get out of P.E.!

Hiro asked, ignoring my snort, "How did the bat even get at you?"

"It got into the house," Josh answered. "My Dad's still not sure how it got in, either."

"Must have been one mean bat," Hiro muttered.

Josh glanced my way again, "You have no idea."

At the end of the day, the sun shining (I was really starting to hate the sun) McKenna accompanied me home. As soon as we were away from the school, she grumbled, "I want to know what game he thinks he's playing!"

"Josh?" I questioned, making sure that was who she was grumbling about.

"Yes!" She snapped, "Acting like he hadn't lost control and nearly killed you! Pretending it was all okay!"

"You're starting to sound like my sisters," I muttered.

McKenna shot me a nasty look, "At least I'm worried about what it means if Josh is here, on Jacob's territory!"

Realization hit me with those words, "Sam's ignoring the boundaries!"

"Exactly," McKenna said, nodding sagely. "I'm going to report to Jacob as soon as I'm sure you're home safely."

"I don't need a babysitter!" I snapped.

McKenna grinned, "I know, but you do need a friend who can transform into a wolf in case trouble finds you; which it usually does!"

"Shut up!" I muttered darkly.

McKenna's grin became almost wolfish, but then it faded as she muttered, "I tried talking to Josh several times today and he refused to give me any reason as to why he would be here in Forks, versus staying in La Push with his father, I mean, Josh hates your family!"

"It bothers me as well," I answered. Which was the truth; Josh's strange behavior perplexed me, and I hoped that we'd be able to get to the bottom of it.

McKenna nodded, "Good! Because if it didn't bother you, I'd be worried that you still had feelings for him." She gave me a knowing look.

"Do you really think after all he's done that I'd still have feelings for him?" I questioned, even though part of me silently admitted that I did indeed still like him.

McKenna sighed, "I guess you wouldn't." I sighed inwardly in relief.

Fifteen minutes later, I was inside the house, trying to figure out what Sam could gain from having Josh in Forks at Forks High School. I was coming up blank, and so was the rest of my family (evil mind reader and future seer!). We were all perplexed as to what could be gained from such a move.

Bella sighed, "I really don't know what possessed Sam to do such a dangerous thing, especially using his own son!"

"You're right," Alice agreed. "It doesn't make any sense."

Emmett stated the obvious, "We'll just have to wait and see how this plays out."

Edward muttered, "Like we didn't know that already!" This started a playful shoving match between the two.

Carlisle hadn't said much since I had told my family about Josh. Though he now voiced his thoughts, "It doesn't make sense, though…what Josh said about his father not knowing that he was going to Forks High School."

"He could have been lying," Rosalie muttered. "I wouldn't put it past that mutt, or any of those dogs for that matter!"

Bella whispered to me, "Rosalie still dislikes any of the werewolves, especially after having to deal with Jacob."

Having heard Bella, Rosalie growled, "Anybody would dislike them after having to deal with that lousy…"

Esme gasped, "Rosalie!" As Rosalie used a not so nice word to describe Jacob…okay, she used not so nice WORDS to describe Jacob.

I sighed. This conversation was going nowhere.


	40. Chapter 39: Yearning

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

The day my birthday dawned, I had gone from being perplexed to utterly bewildered, almost to the point of being stupefied. McKenna explained to me the day after Josh had first arrived at our school, that Josh had indeed joined Jacob's pack, and that was as much as I could get out of her! She refused to discuss anything else about why Josh joined Jacob's pack or why the two were back on speaking terms again…traitor!

Yes, I felt betrayed by McKenna, and Hiro. They both welcomed Josh with open arms. (Hiro I couldn't really blame, he was never one to hold a grudge, but McKenna…!) It was a rarity that I spoke when we all ate together, and I was still bewildered as to why Josh kept sitting next to me whenever he got the chance, even though I acted coldly towards him. What was infuriating is that he didn't seem to care or mind! If anything, he seemed to take it as a sign that I didn't mind his presence. So to say the least…I REALLY wasn't looking forward to my birthday.

Heading downstairs after showering, I paused on the steps, listening to the unusual silence that dominated the house. Wary now, I continued down the stairs, expecting my family to shout "surprise" or "happy birthday" but no such thing occurred. I was really baffled now.

Walking into the kitchen cautiously, Esme set down my breakfast and kissed my forehead, "Happy birthday, Dear."

"Thanks, Mom," I said, kissing her cheek. I couldn't help asking, "Where is everyone?"

Carlisle walked in just then, "They're all off doing there own…things…for the day. Alice also wanted me to tell you that her not throwing you a birthday party is her gift to you, though I wouldn't believe that." I smiled. He bent down and kissed my cheek, "Happy birthday, Sweetheart."

"Thanks, Dad," I said, kissing his cheek. He wrapped me in a hug, and Esme soon joined us. I cuddled against them both, feeling somewhat, like a little kid again, but not quite.

Esme was the first to pull away, and she said, smiling, "Well, eat your breakfast so you can go to school."

I was EXTREMELY tempted to ask if I could just stay home, but I didn't think that would go over well, so I ate my breakfast in silence. As I took my plate into the kitchen, once I had finished eating, Esme followed. She said as I set my dish in the sink, "Your father and I thought you'd enjoy going bowling with your friends later tonight, so if you want to invite them along…just make sure their parents are okay with them going, all right?"

"Okay," I answered. Bowling sounded fine to me, and I would invite McKenna, Hiro, and…okay, nobody else came to mind apart from Josh and I wasn't about to invite him along. I still hadn't forgiven him for the things he had said and done.

School that day started off pretty well…that was until Josh and I got partnered together for a British Literature project on Beowulf. Why was fate so cruel?

I was curt when I talked to him, "What parts of this project will you do?"

Josh's mind wasn't on the project though, "Sara…can we please talk?"

"There's nothing to say," I said. I added, "You said plenty before."

"I am sorry about that," Josh murmured. "I'm also sorry about hurting you." I refused to look at him. He continued in a pleading whisper, "Look, I just want to be friends again, we don't have to be anything else if…" He stopped, and I looked up…what was I thinking? His stormy grey eyes showed just how sorry he really was.

_Stupid eyes!_ I thought as I said, my heart hating my brain, "Being friends sounds good." It got the effect I wanted. The pain in his eyes lessened slightly, but not by much. _Good! Suffer!_ I thought, though my heart was in as much pain as was showing in his eyes. With a blink, the pain was gone, and I gritted my teeth, _Really? Just like that? What am I…chopped liver?_

I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I said to him, "Now that we're friends again, care to go bowling tonight with McKenna, Hiro, and I?" (McKenna and Hiro had already gotten there parents permission via cell phones).

"Sure," Josh said, a smile crossing his features.

I added, "You'll need your parents' permission."

Josh sighed, "I don't live with my parents anymore."

"What?" I nearly shouted, though I managed to keep my voice level down.

"Do you really think my father would want anything to do with me after joining Jacob's pack?" Josh questioned.

I felt bad for him, even though my mind wanted to deny that fact. But I said, "It must be rough on you and your mom then."

I watched as Josh clenched his left hand into a fist, "Yeah…I can imagine it's hard on her too."

After that class, things went pretty well for the rest of the day. Lunch was actually a fun, boisterous time between the four of us, and the classes of the rest of the day couldn't dampen my fairly good mood. When the final bell rang, I was pleased to see that the sky was filled with light grey clouds as I walked out the school doors with my three friends.

My grin widened as I easily spotted a silver Volvo. Apparently, Edward hadn't taken it to get to wherever he and Bella had gone.

We all slid into the car, somehow managing to fit. Poor Hiro was squished between McKenna and Josh, who were seated in the back with him. I could imagine that McKenna was very happy to be so close to Hiro.

We met up with my mother at the bowling alley, and the torture for Hiro and I began! Hiro and I both thought we were good bowlers until McKenna and Josh bowled, then our confidence went right into the gutter…literally. While Josh and McKenna constantly got strikes and spares, Hiro and I managed to pick up spares, and a strike or two, along with plenty of gutter balls. I was thankful that my parents didn't join in on the fun of bowling, content to watch and keep track of our points.

Even with my confidence in bowling shattered, that was still one of the best birthdays of my young life. However, every time I would sit at the table to eat the pizza or drink some soda that my parents had ordered from the bowling alley, I would notice Josh looking at me, his eyes filled with pain once again, but as soon as I looked at him directly, the pain would be gone, and he'd be smiling, or teasing me about my last gutter ball. As soon as I looked away, his gaze would be filled with pain again, and my heart would echo that pain, although my brain kept telling it to get over him.


	41. Chapter 40: Halloween Terror

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I'll say it again, that was one of my best birthdays! Little did I know that the only way my parents had convinced Alice not to throw me a birthday party was by saying that she could throw a Halloween party at our house…I learned this the day of the party…since Alice simply couldn't contain herself! Apparently she had had a vision showing that I would have fun at the party, although I still had my doubts even after she told me.

Alice grinned when I told her my doubts, "Oh! Just wait until you see what costume I got for you to wear at the party!" I must not have looked very thrilled, since Alice pouted and whined, "I know you'll like it!"

"I doubt it," I muttered, picturing a princess costume, or something worse...!

Jasper walked up behind Alice and whispered something in her ear. Whatever he said, it obviously pleased Alice since she was smiling once again…almost evilly smiling!

I decided to try appealing to my father as I drove to school (I had my permit by now), "Dad…" I started.

"I know what you're going to ask," Carlisle said, giving me a sympathetic smile. "There's no way you can get out of it."

"Are you sure?" I questioned.

His smile widened, "I'm positive."

"You can't blame me for trying," I muttered as I pulled cautiously into the school parking lot.

I parked the car, and Carlisle nodded in approval of my parking (I was actually in the parking spot for once). I unlocked the doors and Carlisle grabbed my book bag while we both got out of the car.

He said as he handed me book bag, as he reached the driver's side of the car, "Try to have fun today, at school, and at home later."

"I'll try," I said half-heartedly as he kissed my cheek.

"Good," Carlisle said as he got into the car. "That's all I ask."

I walked away from the car towards the school, and Hiro, Josh, and McKenna joined me at different parts of the school parking lot, we all walked into the school together though. Which was a good thing, since I nearly keeled over from shock when I entered. Everyone in the hallway was opening up their lockers to reveal invitations to a Halloween party…guess where the party was at? Yeah, you guessed it, the Cullen house, my house; "Alice…" was all I was able to say in response to seeing the invites.

Josh said jokingly, "Should we be insulted if we don't get invitations?" McKenna and Hiro laughed, and I first I just shot them all a nasty look, but I was soon laughing with them.

To say the least, the party at my house was the talk of the school. People who normally wouldn't give me the time of day, were now talking to me as if I was the most popular kid in school. If it was anything of what the popular kids went through all the time, I think I could actually feel pity for them!

Our lunch table was ridiculously crowded and neither McKenna, Hiro, Josh, nor I liked being unable to talk with the others.

That sums up how my day at school went…ridiculously popular for merely living in the fabled Cullen House…whoop-de-frickin'-do!

As if the day couldn't get any better, Alice was the one that picked me up in her flashy 911 Turbo. I was really starting to hate Alice.

Alice sighed as I got into the passenger seat, "I knew you were going to be this upset! I told Edward that he should have let me take his Volvo and he could take my Turbo!"

Yeah…I still didn't like Alice at the moment, and my dislike for my sister was only going to get worse.

When we got home, Alice immediately dragged me (almost literally) upstairs so I could change into my costume. It wasn't a princess…it was worse…a fairy costume. A Tinkerbelle costume would have looked boyish compared to the pink poofy thing I was wearing! The only good part of the costume was a face mask. At least no one would know it was me!

When I walked down the stairs, a few people had already arrived for the party, and they were not my favorite people either. Alice had invited EVERYONE in the school apparently, since the three that had arrived were the bullies that usually picked on Hiro and I. Looking around the room again, I laughed as I spotted the rest of my family dressed as the Hollywood version of vampires, fake fangs and all.

I guess my agitation must have been pretty apparent, since Emmett, not Jasper, came over to me and asked, "What's wrong, sis?"

"Them," I gestured vaguely at the Jimmy, Edwin, and Dean.

Emmett asked, "Are they the ones who beat you up three years ago?" I nodded. He grinned suddenly and started to walk towards Edward and Jasper.

"Don't do anything stupid!" I called after him. Who was I trying to kid? I watched as Edward and Jasper got a…how should I describe it? A maniacal gleam in their eyes as they moved towards Jimmy, Edwin, and Dean; Jasper, Edward, and Emmett were laughing and acting buddy-buddy with Jimmy, Edwin, and Dean, but as more people arrived, my brothers steered the three bullies away from the crowd and outside.

I jumped as Carlisle came up behind me and asked, "What are they up to?"

"No idea," I answered, though I had an inkling that I knew what they were doing. Sure enough, three girlish screams came from outside, causing everyone in the room (all the guests had arrived by now) to stop dancing and chatting to stare outside.

Emmett poked his head in and said, "Nothing to worry about! They were just telling scary stories to each other and got a little freaked out when a deer moved in the forest!"

Judging by my father's expression, he didn't believe Emmett, but he wasn't about to say anything against it either. He just said, "You'd best get those boys home then."

"Will do!" Emmett grinned as he closed the door again.

That was the most I had smiled all night, Alice couldn't believe that I smiled over my brothers scaring the crap out of three guys, but not smile over her party. The party was easier to bear with my three friends there.

To explain what had happened outside…well…to explain it as Emmett innocently, told me, "All we did was smile and maybe move a bit faster than we should have!"

When the party was finally over, I was surprised when my entire family headed towards the door. "Where are you going?" I asked as I came down the stairs in my pajamas.

"We need to hunt," Carlisle stated, turning to face me. I noticed for the first time, all that week, that I noticed how black his eyes were. He added as he gently stroked my cheek, "Several of Jacob's pack is on patrol right now around our property, you'll be perfectly safe."

I remained silent. I didn't want to admit how much this small fact comforted me. Even though there hadn't been hide or hair of the other vampires, I still worried that they were around.

As soon as the door closed behind my family, I felt a little apprehensive. I had never realized how large the house was, or how eerie it could be. I was a little unnerved by all the windows that were open to the night and whatever it hid in its black folds, so I moved towards the kitchen, where there was not a wall for a window, but just a simple kitchen window, like in any other house. Opening the refrigerator to see what there was to drink, I noticed a jug in the back filled with a red liquid.

I knew full well what was in the jug, as I pulled it out from the back of the fridge and I grabbed a small, crystal glass, and poured the dark red liquid into it. Remember, I'm not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but I figured that I might as well try it since I would eventually be drinking it to stave off a hunger.

I tipped the glass towards my mouth, and the red liquid barely hit my mouth when I spat it into the sink, the taste was terrible! As I rinsed my mouth for several minutes all I could think was, _what was I thinking?_ Shoving the jug back into the fridge I walked back into the living room, heading towards the stairs. A shadow out of the corner of my eye near the window caused me to whip around towards the window. Nothing was there…that I could see.

Fear started to pound through my veins and I shot up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I entered my room, and that's when I heard something slam into the front door, and shatter it.

I moved as swiftly and silently as I could towards my closet, and shut the door quietly. Feeling around in the dark, I grabbed an aluminum baseball bat, back from when I had played softball back in elementary school. I wished I knew where the other bats were!

The fact that I couldn't hear anything downstairs set my heart pounding loudly in my chest as terror gripped me. Then a crash right where my bed would have been nearly made my scream, though I managed to just silently scream. Another crash where my desk was, and then the door to the closet started to open.

Remember how I keep telling you that I wasn't the brightest? Well, here's another example of my intelligence: as soon as the vampire opened the door and stuck its head in (I was on the far side of my closet) I hit it with the baseball bat. The poor bat didn't stand a chance!

I think my stupidity temporarily startled the vampire into remaining still. It wasn't one of the ones that had tried to attack me several months ago, and its eyes were almost glowing red…this vampire was a newborn…need I say, YIPE!

The vampire made a move towards me, but then there was a snarl from down below, and then the thundering of something, like hammers pounding up the stairs, followed by something trying to force its way through my door with growls, snarls, and barks.

Again, I'm not the smartest person in the world, so when the vampire tried to come in further into the closet, I slammed the closet door that it had opened against it…poor door! This time I enraged the vampire, and it hissed at me…but that's as far as it got. A sickening snapping of wood sounded from the entrance to my room, and then a white muzzle appeared for a brief second, its teeth snapping onto the neck of the vampire, before it pulled back, the vampire in tow.

I didn't fell brave enough to see what exactly was going on in my room, though the sounds of hissing, snarling, screeching, and ripping gave me a pretty good idea. What didn't make any sense was when I heard glass breaking. I peeked out of my closet and wished I hadn't. There was Josh, as a white wolf; throwing bits and pieces of the vampire out my window to a glowing fire below (I could only assume that some others of Jacob's pack had started it.)

Once all the pieces were gone, Josh turned towards me, his large white body looking even larger in my room. He stepped forward cautiously towards me, his ears flat against his head. His body posture told me that he didn't want me to be afraid. I wasn't afraid of him. I knew that much, I was relieved that he was here along with the other wolves. Shaking, I threw my arms around his neck, and held on to him. I would feel stupid for showing my fear later, but just then, I realized just how close I had come to dying at the teeth of a vampire.

A huge sigh passed through his frame, and he carefully got onto his knees, nudging me when he finally was kneeling on the floor. Releasing his neck, I stared at him in confusion for several seconds before I understood what he wanted. The house was no longer safe with the front door, and the window in my room busted. I carefully got onto his back, and he rose to his paws. With a leap, he sailed out of the window, and over the fire that smelled of incense. Landing with a grunt he took off showing off his speed for a few seconds before he slowed down in a small clearing within the forest, still on the Cullen's property. Kneeling once again, I got off of his back. Josh nudged me with his nose until I sat on the ground, then he laid down beside me, his right side pressed against my back, as he gazed alertly around, keeping an eye out for danger. However, I talked to him about what happened and he growled, snorted, or laughed in that wolf way, about what I said, and soon I was just talking to pass the time, and he listened and answered in his own way. This wouldn't be the last time we sat like together like that either.


	42. Chapter 41: One Dance

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Tensions ran high constantly, after that Halloween. I was no longer allowed to be on my own at any time of the day it seemed. Privacy became a foreign word to me (unless you counted the bathroom, which I was starting to stay in for excessive periods of time.) My family and the wolves were even more uneasy as the news started to report murders going on in Seattle, which was too close for comfort for them. The attacks were random, no less, and my family had already come to the conclusion that an army of newborns was being created there once again. (The first time being when Victoria had wanted revenge against Edward and Bella for killing her mate, James.) So to put things simply, I had absolutely no alone time! Even when I slept, one of my family was always in my room, keeping an eye on things outside my window, once it was fixed anyway!

The only good thing that came out of that Halloween was that Josh and I were once again on good terms. Plus, it worked well for him and McKenna, McKenna needed to patrol Hiro's house since my family's scents would be on the property, so that kept her in a good mood, and Josh, well, it just worked! Whenever he and I were together, and even if he was in his wolf form, I enjoyed his company…more than I cared to admit. So as month by month went by, with the death toll in Seattle rising, and my family on edge. I'm surprised I didn't expect a certain question to come up as May came along.

May…rainy as any other month in Forks regardless of the little saying of "April showers bring May flowers"…yeah, that doesn't apply to Forks! However, in May, around the middle of the month, another happy period in our high school comes around…prom. Our prom is open to juniors and seniors seeing as to how we're not a very big school.

I should have known trouble was amiss as soon as McKenna dragged me over to the poster and exclaimed, "Look! Prom's coming up!"

"That's great, McKenna," I said, trying to force my tone to be happy.

McKenna knew my moods too well, "I'm sure someone will ask you to go."

"You have more optimism then I do," I muttered. I decided to change the focus of the subject, "Has someone asked you to go?"

I could already guess by her expression who had asked her out, but I waited for her to say it. "Hiro asked me out, actually," she said, practically giddy with excitement.

"That's great!" I said smiling.

McKenna heard the melancholy tone in my voice, "I KNOW someone will ask you to prom." Now I didn't like the look in her eyes, nor the tone of her voice. She knew something I didn't. That's never a good thing!

I felt like I was being herded then as McKenna moved towards Josh's locker, dragging me with her.

Josh's expression mirrored my own; it was one of surprise and bewilderment as McKenna dragged me over.

"What are you doing?" I whispered angrily to McKenna.

McKenna smiled (evilly in my opinion!), "Well, you two have been getting along so well recently, I'd thought I'd help things along." She winked.

I rolled my eyes while Josh just stared at her like she was nuts. She left us as Hiro entered the school sopping wet. He had his permit as well, but his parents were still wary of how he parked so he usually had to park his car near the back of the school, and it was raining pretty hard…

While McKenna sympathized with Hiro, Josh and I had an awkward silence between us. Josh finally broke the silence, "I don't know what she was thinking…"

"I do," I muttered, gesturing at Hiro.

Josh laughed, "Yeah, I guess that explains it." McKenna was now…for lack of a better word…fussing over Hiro. He muttered, "Sure stinks being imprinted on someone who doesn't even notice you…"

"You sound like you're talking from experience," I teased.

Josh grinned, "Yeah, I haven't found the right girl yet."

"Yet," I said, smiling. _He'll find the right one eventually._

"Right…" The awkward silence settled again as Josh shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. I was trying to look anywhere but at him, which wasn't working since he was so lanky and muscular.

We were saved from our awkwardness by Hiro finally making it over to us, and he said, teasingly, "So, have you two found dates for the prom yet?"

Josh shot him a nasty look, and I just rolled my eyes, "You know as well as I do that no one's going to ask me to prom, Hiro."

I saw him glance quickly at Josh, but I ignored it, assuming that it was merely my imagination. To put it simply, Josh had been on my mind more than I cared to admit.

As McKenna and I were sitting in one of our classes together, she said, "So…once someone has asked you out to prom…do you want to go dress shopping together?"

"You're more optimistic than I am," I commented. "But sure, why not?"

McKenna grinned happily, "Good! I can't wait!"

"You're a bit too optimistic," I muttered. She grinned. "What do you know that I don't?"

"Oh…nothing really!" She tried to reassure me. It didn't really work, but I knew it was pointless to pester her further.

McKenna wasn't the only one that acted strangely that day. During lunch, she and Hiro kept exchange glances with each other, and then staring at Josh expectantly. Josh on the other hand was pretending that he didn't notice these glances, and he was unusually silent. He seemed to have forgotten how to be his usual, joking self.

The rest of the school day my three friends remained just as unusual and I tried to figure out why, but half the time I set their unusual behaviors out of my mind since the killings in Seattle kept coming to the forefront along with the thought of a newborn vampire army. The question remained though…why? Who would want to create a newborn army so far up North? Jasper was even perplexed, saying that the behavior fit more down in the South. Then again, we did have some southern vampires still wandering around near us, Jacob and his pack kept coming across the scents, and even Sam had reported, the last time he had seen Jacob, that they were even coming into La Push every now and then.

The bell rang and I got up with the rest of my class and headed towards my locker. I blinked a bit as blinding sunshine shown through the front doors of the school, _perfect! Meaning I have to have a bodyguard as I walk home!_ Yes, the strain of never being on my own was starting to wear on me.

I got my stuff and waited near my locker, though half of me wanted to walk out the door without my escort, while the other half was quite pleased when my escort, Josh, arrived.

As we walked out of the school together, passing Hiro and McKenna, I would have sworn that the pair exchanged a knowing glance. But, again, I ignored it, thinking that perhaps Hiro was starting to see McKenna's charm and maybe she would finally tell him what she really was and that she had imprinted on him.

Our walk was quiet, though that suited me just fine. For once I was able to admire the greenery of the day without someone thinking that I was worried about being attacked by some rogue vampires. I was lost in admiring the lushness of the trees, so I was surprised when Josh said out of the blue, "Can you believe Hiro and McKenna?"

"What do you mean?" I questioned, taken off guard.

Josh shrugged, "How they were acting today."

"Yeah, that was a bit hard to believe," I agreed. I waited for him to say more, but he didn't, lapsing into silence once more.

When we finally reached the house, I walked in, and was surprised when Josh followed, but I soon found out the reason why. There was a note on the table that explained that they had gone hunting and would be back tomorrow when I got home from school.

"That explains why you walked right in," I said in a teasing tone.

Josh grinned before he moved his shirt over his mouth and nose, "And it still stinks to high heaven in here!" His grin widened, "Not t mention it's hard not to gag at school when you're near either!"

"Shut up, fuzz ball!" I teased, sticking my tongue out at him. Josh pretended to be hurt by my teasing, though he couldn't keep the grin off his face.

I couldn't help wondering what was on his mind though, as he asked, "Want to go outside and take a walk?"

"Sure," I answered.

Taking off his shirt, Josh led the way outside. Motioning for me to wait on the porch, he jogged into the trees. A few moments later, he came trotting out as a wolf, and he paused, just in front of the porch. I walked down the steps, and we were soon walking aimlessly through the property in a companionable silence.

After an hour or so of walking, Josh lay down on the ground, his ears pricked forward as he listened to the sounds carried on the wind to his alabaster ears. I leaned against his side, and I heard him sigh in contentment.

I mused aloud, "Do you think either of us will go to prom?" My first mistake to even muse…

He turned the full force of his storm, grey gaze on me and everything fit into place suddenly. McKenna's assurance that I would be asked to prom, the looks she and Hiro cast Josh's way, and how they kept giving questioning glances at each other wondering when Josh would ask.

I couldn't help feeling that this was an appropriate way to "ask" (I use that word loosely). Josh and I always seemed to understand each other better when he was a wolf.

So a week later, and only two days before prom, found me in a shop in Port Angeles with McKenna, Alice, and Rosalie trying on prom dresses. To say the least, I wasn't thrilled with all the dresses and other accessories I had had to try on, but finally we settled on a midnight blue dress with, ragged, so to speak, edges, midnight blue, toeless heels, clip on turquoise earrings, and a turquoise necklace. While McKenna settled on a flashy red dress, with red high heeled sandals, and red blossom earrings, and a necklace to match them; I think she was more thrilled than I was to be honest. My stomach was filled with butterflies for the upcoming event.

Over the next two days, tension seemed to rise in the household as there were no new murders in Seattle. It was as if the newborns were no longer there. But that added a new question… "Where were they?" Another question being silently asked was, "Why weren't the Voltouri interfering?" It was unnerving to know that we might not have any allies against whatever threat might be coming. Jasper seemed to be the one who was most agitated, taking to pacing around the house whenever he brooded on the subject.

Two days after our little shopping trip though, I was walking down the stairs to wait for my date to pick me up, when I spotted the rest of my family waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

I couldn't help blushing as Esme embraced me warmly and murmured as she kissed my forehead, "You look wonderful."

I was further embarrassed as my father embraced me as well and said quietly, "You look beautiful."

Then Emmett ruined the moment by saying, "How did you apply your makeup? With a…" He trailed off as Rosalie shot him a scathing look. I had insisted on applying my own makeup. A mistake? Perhaps. But I didn't want to be treated like a Barbie doll.

Alice kept looking out the window for any sign of Josh's truck. She complained, "Why couldn't he be human? I mean, honestly, I don't know when he's going to arrive!"

I smiled, and I noticed that Edward, Bella, and Carlisle all smiled with me. Just then, though, Alice said happily, "I can hear the tires on the driveway!"

Sure enough, within a few minutes, Josh had made it up the driveway and was walking to the door to take me to the prom. Carlisle walked over to the door and opened it for him and my heart decided to skip a beat then I as I spotted my date for the night.

Dressed in a deep blue tuxedo, and black slacks, Josh looked stunning. The jacket a snug fit on him, but it looked good, showing off his muscular upper body, and the color making his storm grey eyes stand out. He looked uncomfortable being in the same proximately as my vampire family, but he was doing well considering that his first instinct was to attack them.

I watched as Carlisle murmured something to him, and Josh nodded. Curse my dull human senses! Whatever Josh had nodded to though seemed to appease my father as he moved out of Josh's way so he could see me.

Emmett laughed as Josh's eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly, but he quickly recovered. Looking a bit sheepish, he walked over to me and said, "I couldn't get a real flower to go with your dress so…" He pulled a box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a small, sapphire blue, silk flower set with fake diamonds and other gems set within the fabric. Carefully he pinned it onto my dress and I was completely oblivious to the reactions of my family.

We finally managed to escape the house after having several pictures taken of us, courtesy of Alice, and we arrived at Prom in time for the Grand March, and then we had dinner at the local diner before we went back to the school for the dancing portion of the night.

While other couples, McKenna and Hiro included, danced around the floor, Josh and I sat at a table. Josh had asked me to dance several times already and I had given reason upon reason not to dance. The truth was…I wasn't a good dancer. At least, I didn't believe so. I had never danced before in my life, and I was scared to death that I would make a fool of myself.

I felt bad for Josh, who had asked me to this. I knew that he wanted to dance just by the looks he kept shooting first at the dance floor, and then at me.

After several straight minutes of this, he finally said, looking at me, "Sara, can I please just have one dance? That's all I'm asking. One dance. If you don't want to dance after that fine, but please…just give me one dance."

I couldn't come up with an argument when he was giving me the full force of his grey eyes, so I let him take my right hand and let him lead me onto the dance floor as a slow song played. I never looked away from his eyes as we started to sway with the music, I was lost in his gaze, and he was apparently lost in mine, since he never looked away from me, either.

As the song ended and another started, we remained on the dance floor, but halfway through the song, an eerie howl split the air, and Josh tensed, looking out the nearest window. I looked around for McKenna and saw that she was doing the same as Josh.

Josh looked back at me and said, "I need to get you back home…now!" Getting a firm hold on my wrist we wove through the crowd and made our way to the parking lot. I noticed that McKenna's father's truck was waiting in the parking lot for McKenna and Hiro, who were right behind us, though Hiro was more bewildered than I was.

As Josh opened my door for me, and then made his way to the driver's side, I asked, "What's going on?"

He didn't answer at first as he slammed his door shut and started the car. It was only when the car was moving that he said, "They're making their move."

I didn't even need to ask who they were as panic shot through me, "Where are they at?"

"I don't know," Josh answered. "I'm going to find out though, once I know you're safe with your family."

"Do they know about those southern vampires making their move yet?" I asked.

Josh shrugged, "I don't know anything except that howl was the one Jacob told us to use when those southern vampires made a move."


	43. Chapter 42: It Starts

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

Josh left as soon as one of my family members opened the door, not even caring about the tuxedo, he leapt away from the porch with a ripping sound as the fabric tore to reveal a white wolf dashing across the yard.

Alice, who had opened the door, winced at the sound of ripping fabric, but she ushered me inside. The scene that greeted me in the living room was baffling.

A reddish brown wolf stood in the middle of the living room with Renesmee standing next to it, gripping its shoulder fur, the rest of my family were standing or sitting around the area, looking anxious and tense.

Carlisle turned as soon as I got past the couch, and he pulled me against him in a hug. His embrace told me more than words. He had been terribly worried about me, and judging from the eased tension in the room, that had been on a lot of their minds.

"What's going on?" I managed to ask past my father's tight embrace.

Edward was the one to answer, "Jacob has told us that when he was on patrol with Seth and another young wolf they ran into our southern friends…literally. They gave Jacob a message to take to us…"

I was starting to get scared, "What was the message?"

"Leave this territory or die," Bella said, since Edward apparently didn't want to say it.

I was very confused and frightened as Carlisle released me from his embrace and Esme wrapped her arms protectively around me, and Carlisle put his arms around both of us.

Jasper sensed my confusion, "I believe I know what they're thinking, since I was once like them." Everyone was all ears now. "When I was with Maria we fought with other covens for feeding grounds." All right, that much made sense to me. "Sometimes we were drawn to areas simply due to the…quantity…of prey, other times we were drawn to an area by a coven's supposed strength…" A small intake of breath greeted these words.

Edward glanced at Jacob, "Jacob's asking if that's what's drawing them here…our reputation."

"I believe so," Jasper sighed. "What other coven has ever stood against the Voltouri and lived?"

Silence greeted this last statement. Esme said quietly, "And we can't expect help from the Voltouri either…they must still want us eliminated…!"

Emmett growled, "That's why they haven't interfered. They think this southern coven can do us in with their newborn army.

"I was hoping they'd let bygones be bygones," Carlisle murmured, closing his eyes.

Rosalie spat, "What did we really expect? We are still considered a threat by them since we are such a gifted coven!"

"Alice?" Carlisle questioned, opening his eyes. "When will this attack start?"

Alice's eyes took on a glazed over look as she sought the answer. She gasped and her eyes refocused, "Within the hour."

Carlisle sighed, "That doesn't give us much time…."

"Do you want me to see how many there are?" Alice inquired.

"It couldn't hurt," Carlisle answered.

Her gaze became unfocused again, and when her eyes focused on us again, she breathed, "There are at least one hundred of them." There was a sharp intake of breath.

Edward spoke suddenly as Jacob growled, "Jacob's pack will fight with us…he's going to send one of his pack to speak with Sam now."

Carlisle looked at me, "We need to get you somewhere safe."

"Can't I help?" I asked, trying to sound brave, though my voice trembled, betraying my fear.

Esme smiled and brushed my bangs away from my forehead, "You'll help by staying out of sight."

Another growl came from Jacob, but this time, Renesmee translated, "I think Jacob's wondering if one of the wolves can go with her?" Jacob nodded.

Edward looked thoughtful, "It worked when we were hiding Bella from Victoria…" Jacob nodded again.

"Let's go with that same plan again," Jasper said suddenly. Everyone turned to stare at him. "Bella left a trail that time, remember?"

"We had more time to prepare than," Rosalie snarled though. "We will NOT use her as bait or to leave a trail!"

Emmett nodded in agreement, "It's too risky this time, Jasper."

Jasper looked at Carlisle, who sighed, "We had more warning last time…if we had one more hour or so I would agree to let her leave a trail but…" He cast an anxious glance my way, but he didn't finish.

Edward nodded at the door just seconds before there was a scratching at it. Esme walked over to the door and opened it to reveal a chocolate brown wolf, Quil. "Quil will take her to a spot away from any of the fighting…I hope." He was obliviously voicing Jacob's thoughts as soon as Jacob thought them.

Everyone cast a questioning look at Alice who shook her head, "Now that the wolves are definitely involved, I can't see where the battle is going to take place…"

"Get her to safety now…" Carlisle said quietly. Quil nodded and got onto his knees. I easily climbed onto his back and then we were off. His long strides taking us further away from the house where I had grown up…

My heart gave a painful twinge as I realized I hadn't even told them all that I loved them. I might not be seeing any of them again and now… Tears stung at the corners of my eyes as Quil's strides lengthening until we seemed to be flying over the ground. Away from everything that was familiar…

Quil stood tensed in the forest clearing that he had picked as our "hiding spot". It was away from any possible point of convergence of the southern vampires and my family and my friends…vampires and werewolves alike. Quil had only become agitated recently, and I couldn't figure out why for the life of me.

After what felt like a couple of hours, he started to whine as he glanced off into the trees and then at me, his tail tucked between his legs and his ears flattened against his head.

I thought I knew what was bothering him; he was here with me while his daughter was in the midst of battle. He wanted to help her and his friends Jacob, Embry, Seth, all of them. I said softly, "Go ahead. I don't think any one of those southern vampires will come up this way."

His tail shot into the air and he wagged it happily as he took off towards wherever the fight was…that was the biggest mistake either of us had ever made and would ever make. The fighting was closer to my hiding spot then either of us could have imagined as I was soon to find out.

Quil couldn't have been gone very long when I noticed that the birds were no longer singing and everything seemed to have eerily quiet. Standing up I looked around, hoping to get a clue as to where the predator was. There was no indication of where the predator was, my eye roving over trees, shrubs, red berry bushes…_Berry bushes? There weren't any red berry bushes…!_ I took off running, the two glowing, blood red points from the bush imprinted on my mind.

Running from a creature that I'd come to love and respect was not something on my top ten things I want do list…but it's something that was inevitable…when you lived with vampires you lived on the edge.

One. Two. I whipped to the left, trying to avoid the killer that was behind me, taking his sweet old time, knowing that he could take me at anytime.

I remembered my brother's words, "They're stronger, and faster, but they are not smart, you'll just have to outmaneuver them…" One. Two. Turn again, a different way, making my path confusing. One. Two. Whip around and bolt backgrounds, throwing him off my tail…hopefully! It was a good thing that I was in Track, not to mention that I was abnormally fast for a human, one of the few perks of living with vampires. One. Tw-!

I felt my foot catch against something, a root most likely, and I tried to wrench it free, but that only made things worse as I fell to the ground, my right foot still caught in the root's hold. Pushing myself up, I tried desperately to regain my feet, but something wrenched my foot free from the root and threw me across the clearing, as I hit a tree, the wind rushing from my lungs, I gazed at the predator, as he stalked forward, he grabbed me by my left arm and lifted me up, grinning at me, showing his white, sharp teeth, before he flung me across the clearing once again. He didn't wait for me to hit the ground, he was next to me, still grinning, he stepped on my arm and a sickening snap resounded throughout the clearing, and I barely managed to contain my scream.

The predator taunted, "Come now, scream, this won't be fun if you don't scream." He stepped on my left arm and I hissed in pain, refusing to scream. My consciousness was fading but I could swear a familiar snarl split the air…

Shapes were blurred, but I could easily recognize my father's shape as he hurtled into the clearing, slamming into the newborn. The newborn took a wild swing, but Carlisle nimbly dodged to the side.

The newborn taunted, "They knew that our plan to have us all split up would take you off guard! You're family is split up, unable to work as a unit!"

There was a ferocious snarl from Carlisle before there was a scream and the sound of something being ripped apart, but that's when my world went black. I couldn't see anything, but I could feel pain as my lungs struggled for breath and my body screamed for relief from the pain it was in.

I felt a gentle touch on my chest, but that was enough to make me cry out in pain. I heard my father take a sharp intake of breath. He probed several other spots and I cried out each time, and my breath started coming in gasps, and I tasted blood as I coughed.

I felt lips press against my forehead in a kiss before my father whispered, "Forgive me." And then I felt something sharp pierce the flesh near the base of my neck, then twice more on my wrists…


	44. Chapter 43: Love & Battle

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

I started to love the blackness that would embrace me every few seconds, minutes, or hours…I really couldn't tell. It never felt very long though. I always seemed to return to a harsh reality where my body jerked though it was pressed against someone's hard, cold chest, arms were wrapped tightly around me. A voice that I should have known kept telling me that it would pass, the pain would pass. It sure didn't seem like it.

Hell's flames couldn't compare to the burning that was going throughout my body passing from the three places that had been pierced and slowly progressing through my body with an intense heat. It's indescribable really. All I can say is that it hurt and it was agonizing!

I wanted to scream my pain to the world, but some dim part of my mind kept telling me that that was a bad idea so I kept silent although my body tried to contort itself into new positions as the flames coursed through it.

Time didn't exist for me, only the pain did…so when my heart started to pound faster and harder as the flames neared it I knew that I was going to die. There was no other explanation. At that moment though, I welcomed it. Anything to stop the flames from consuming my body… Harder and faster my heart pounded until there was nothing. No burning pain. No heart beat. Nothing.

As if in answer to the thought of nothing, sound turned back on. There was a pathetic whining sound, and the whine sounded familiar. Another sense opened up, pain once again, but in my throat. It was a different sort of burning then from before, duller in a way, but I also felt thirsty. Now a third sense had reawakened as I heard my father's voice say, "She'll be all right. She's made it through the worst of it."

I was now aware that I was no longer pressed against a hard, cold chest…I wasn't against anything but the earthy ground, the musky scent hitting my nose along with the stink of some sort of creature and a sweet scent I couldn't place, not what my throat was thirsting for, but one that was reassuring.

I opened my eyes then, unwilling to be blind any longer. I moved my head towards where I had heard the voice and whining and inhaled sharply. Somehow I had never truly SEEN my father before. It was like looking at the sun, in a way. He smiled at me reassuringly, though his gaze betrayed how wary he was. I moved into a crouch, and a growl sounded to the left of Carlisle, and I pulled back my lips and snarled at it. _Wait…did I just snarl?_ I was momentarily perplexed, my mind trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Carlisle stood up slowly, his movement was enough to cause me some reassurance, and I stood as well. I stood as soon as the thought hit my brain, I thought it and I stood, there wasn't really any…motion so to speak. This left me perplexed once again.

Carlisle said softly, though I could hear him perfectly, "Sweetheart…I can imagine that you are confused." Confused didn't even begin to describe how I was feeling, but I nodded. He continued in that soft tone, "What do you remember?"

"I…" I stopped then. My voice didn't sound right. It had developed the song like tones that my family had…realization hit me like a ton of bricks, "I'm a vampire now, aren't I?"

"Yes," Carlisle answered, still not moving towards me.

I felt hurt suddenly. My own father wouldn't come near me now that I was like him. The pain must have shown in my face and eyes, because he moved towards me then and embraced me. His tone was filled with relief as he said, "I'm glad you made it through the transformation."

Now that the world was slowly starting to make sense again, I glanced at whatever had growled earlier and spotted a familiar red and white wolf.

"McKenna," I breathed. I knew it was her, though I could see every detail of her fur where the red changed tones to where the red and white met, to the subtle differences in her white fur.

Her delicate ears pricked forward, and a soft whine escaped her. There was a voice in my head that asked in her voice, _"Are you still you?"_

"It's still me…I think," I answered. She cocked her head to the side in confusion, but I didn't think on it right away.

Carlisle laughed softly, "Of course you're still you…_although…"_ He was frowning now. _"You are in amazing control of your thirst."_

My mind now worked a bit differently, items that didn't need to be addressed right away seemed to be pushed to the back of my mind, but now that my father had mentioned it, I was thirsty. "I do feel parched."

Now he looked as confused as McKenna. I stared at them both and wondered, _"What?"_

They both gasped and even I gasped as I realized that I had not spoken aloud. Carlisle suddenly smiled though, "This is interesting…you seem to be able to communicate with us in a way similar to that of the wolves.

McKenna nodded, and she was grinning with her wolfish grin, _"This is going to come in handy!"_

Thirst was still on the forefront of my mind though, so I nodded vaguely.

Carlisle said, "We'll hunt. McKenna, go and tell the others that we're okay and we'll join them as soon as possible."

She nodded, _"Right!"_ Carlisle looked surprised as she bounded off. He was looking at me in wonder.

"What?" I asked.

"You seem to be able to connect minds as well since I just heard what McKenna was thinking."

I grinned suddenly. It was nice to feel special, not to mention strong and graceful.

"We must be careful," Carlisle cautioned. My first hunt had gone well, though my clothes were more like shreds of cloth, though nothing too private was revealed. I had hunted a cougar and several herbivores, though I had liked the taste of the cougars blood better. My strength and speed were still a bit mind boggling, and my thirst was in no way quenched, but the burning had eased and my mind was now focused on battle.

Carlisle had told me that I was not to fight against any of the southern vampires that were older and that I was to only face newborns. I understood his logic since it would be deadly for me to face a more experienced vampire since I was nothing but a newborn myself.

_"Ready?" _He asked silently. Both of us were enjoying this ability of mine that allowed us to communicate silently.

I nodded, _"Ye-…"_ I broke off as a soft thudding came from behind us. Whipping around a snarl built up in my throat, but it cut off as a blindingly white wolf pushed his head through the bushes. Our gazes locked, and for some reason I extended my new ability to him, wanting to hear his thoughts.

_"No!"_ Josh's thoughts were filled with sorrow, anguish, and most surprising of all, a powerful wave of love. _"This can't be! I wasn't supposed to still be imprinted on you once you were a vampire!"_

Those thoughts kind of hurt so I retaliated, barely registering that my father had drawn back his lips in the beginnings of a snarl, _"This is what I am!"_

Josh looked startled, but it quickly faded, _"I know…and I love every part of you…from how you look, to this new ability of yours…everything…"_

Carlisle now snarled, and Josh quickly moved his head back into the shelter of the bush. A lot of good that would have done him against an angry and protective father vampire! I must have forgotten to keep Carlisle "out of the loop" so to speak. He had obliviously heard every thought that I had.

"Dad," I said aloud. It looked like it took a lot of effort for Carlisle to turn his attention to me rather than the bush where two storm grey eyes could still be seen. "I'm still your little girl." I glanced at the two grey orbs, "And I'm not sure how I feel about you still, Josh."

"_That's all right!" _Josh reassured me. _"I can wait!"_

This statement of mine and of Josh's seemed to reassure him for the time being. Glancing between the two of us, he turned his attention back to the scene below…

The combined efforts of our family, along with Jacob and Sam's packs had managed to get the southern vampires, along with the newborns into one clearing during the three days I had been incapacitated., though not without some injuries, on the wolves' parts at least. Sam had a nasty cut on his black face, though he was still fighting against the bald vampire with the tattoos, Julian. Jacob fought beside him, his shoulder dripping blood, but the two wolves were not fairing well against the southern vampire. At another part of the field, Edward and Bella seemed to be dancing as they fought off the circle of newborns around them, never straying far from the other's side. The same went for Rosalie and Emmett, and Jasper and Alice. Esme fought beside Quil and Embry, who seemed to be limping, each one carrying a hind leg awkwardly.

Seth fought with the young gray and white wolf that had been with Sam, Paul, and Josh when we had first encountered these southern vampires, along with McKenna. Seth was trying to get at the red haired one, Brett, and the gray and white wolf was struggling to get at the blonde haired vampire while McKenna kept both vampires on their toes by snapping at either one whenever they were within reach of her jaws.

"_Let's go," _Carlisle said silently. He shot forward, heading towards Esme.

Josh and I stayed still for several seconds, a silent question passing between us, though neither of us dared ask the other directly.

Josh finally nodded as I used my ability to link us, _"I will fight beside you."_

We sprinted forward, my strength allowing me to keep up with his long strides, and then the battle became a blur from there. There appeared to be nothing but my movements and Josh's as we moved around the other to confuse the newborns (I must admit, sometimes I got confused) but Josh's thoughts kept mine straight, and soon the number of enemies seemed less as we wove around each other, striking at our enemies.

Then Julian's voice rose above the sounds of snarls, screeches, and yelps, "We will surrender!" It was filled with desperation. The fighting stopped then, even the newborns seemed to understand how dire their situation had become. No longer were they the stronger force. Our force of wolves and vampires greatly outnumbered them now.

Twelve remained of their forces, including Julian himself and Brett. The blonde female had not survived.

I moved to stand with the rest of my family, who stood in a line facing Julian and his remaining forces. Jacob and Sam, along with the rest of their packs stood behind us.

Julian said, "You truly are a strong coven…we will leave now…if you will let us…" His tone was uncertain.

Carlisle exchanged a quick glance with the rest of us, and a silent agreement was made. There was no point in fighting any more.

"As long as you vow to stay away from here and never return…you may leave in peace," Carlisle finally said.

Julian's face showed relief as he turned to leave, motioning for what remained of his coven to follow.

Fires were made to burn the remnants of those vampires that had been ripped apart, and the smell of incense filled the air. We stood together as a family while Jacob and Sam made sure that they were not missing any of from their packs. Josh stood a little ways away from my family and I, looking sheepish (which is pretty hard to pull off when you're a wolf).

We were all leaning against each other, glad that we were all alive. My brothers had pretended to act incredulous and teased that I was the ugliest vampire they had seen, while my sisters told me I was quite beautiful, I really didn't know what I looked like, though I could imagine my blood red eyes quite easily.

I decided that I should simply show them my new ability. Gently touching their minds, I connected them all to each other, Bella and Carlisle were the only two aware of the fact, Carlisle, having experienced my new ability before, and Bella because she had to allow me access to her mind. She shot me a questioning look, but she allowed me to use my ability. I told them all, _"I love you."_ Heads jerked in my direction in astonishment, but then smiles broke out. Edward grinned mischievously as I slowly disconnected the connections I had made to their minds (connecting was easier than disconnecting). Even though Eleazar had described my abilities like I door, I considered it to be more complicated. I had just finished disconnecting everyone from my thoughts, and each others, and I watched Edward frown. I grinned triumphantly.

"That's no fair," he grouched. "Two vampires that can block my mind reading?" Bella came up just then and kissed him, and he seemed to be quite happy then.

I smiled, and Josh padded forward, leaning against me, and I touched his fur. Though he was extremely hot to me, it didn't bother me too much. Maybe it was the way he kept looking at me with his eyes, the love that was there that I had apparently been oblivious to before…I was starting to understand my feelings for him, and I was starting to feel relaxed and happy again.

My happiness wouldn't be able to come just yet though, as a familiar voice called tentatively from the woods a little ways off, though fear was in the voice as well, "Sara…?" That was about the time I scented human blood. Hiro had somehow managed to hike his way up to this spot.


	45. Chapter 44: Revealed

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

The scent of human brought back a fairly strong human memory. By now I had noticed that most of my human memories were dull in comparison to my new senses, but this one was oddly strong. As the scent hit my nose, all I could think was, _that smells terrible!_ I was recalling the time I had drank blood as a human, and the memory was strong, which was a good thing in my opinion.

Hiro stared at me with wide eyes, and mine stayed locked with his. I registered that Josh and McKenna had come to stand beside me, remaining in their wolf forms, while a small part of my mind registered the sounds of screams and my family tensing in response to the not so far off sounds.

"Sara?" Hiro questioned again, looking scared. I nodded. I didn't want to scare him with my voice. He looked at Josh and McKenna, not realizing it was them, then back at me, "What's going on?"

I couldn't answer that with a nod or any known gesture, so I started to speak, and I watched him flinch as I first spoke, "You were right. My family is a coven of vampires. However, they don't drink human blood…" I added as an afterthought, "Neither do I."

"How…?" He was shaken, I could tell that much.

I answered his unspoken question, "My father changed me after a…different…vampire attacked me and left me pretty banged up."

Hiro still looked bewildered, and he gestured helplessly at Josh and McKenna.

I glanced at the pair, who glanced at me. Telling Hiro about the shape shifting Quileutes wasn't my secret to tell. McKenna nodded her head ever so slightly, and took a step forward, but that was when Josh released a warning growl, although it came too late.

Hiro yelped in terror as a hand grabbed him around the neck, and another yanked his arms behind him. I hissed as I recognized Jane and I assumed the fair haired boy at her side, holding Hiro's arms, was Alec. I made quick connections with my family, Josh and McKenna so we could all communicate silently with each other.

Edward was the first to take advantage of this as the rest of the Voltouri appeared, _"The whole guard along with Aro, Caius, and Marcus."_

"_At least the wives didn't come this time,"_ Carlisle thought. He said aloud, "What is the meaning of this, Aro?"

Aro glided forward, "We came here merely to get rid of the coven that thought it was necessary to create an alarming number of newborns."

Caius added, "But it seems that, once again, your coven has survived against the odds."

"We're you hoping we'd be eliminated?" Jasper snarled.

Aro held up his hands, "Peace. We were not hoping anything of the sort. My dear friend was merely stating how shocking it is that your coven survived such an attack." His gaze swept over the wolves, "But I see you had help." Sam and Jacob stalked forward then, hackles raised and growling, echoes from the other wolves added emphasis to their own growls. Aro's gaze then rested on me, "Ah! I see you have finally turned her into one of our kind…" He gave me an appraising look, "Being a vampire suits you." I nodded, but I didn't say anything. "And in such control, especially for a newborn!" I still remained silent.

Esme said, "Let the boy go."

Aro sighed, "Ah…now there's the dilemma, he knows about us, we came in at the end of that little conversation, and as he is not apart of your family, Carlisle, he will either have to be turned as well, or…" He didn't finish, though we all knew what he meant. Either Hiro would have to be turned into a vampire or the Voltouri would feast on his blood.

I could feel my family tense around me as this threat was made. Hiro was trembling and shaking as Jane and Alec continued to hold him, and he was gasping as well.

"_What can we do?"_ I asked silently.

Josh's gaze met mine, _"You could always turn him."_

"_Out of the question," _Carlisle and Esme thought in perfect unison.

We were all surprised as Edward said suddenly as McKenna stepped forward, "Neither option will have to be used." I could hear McKenna's thoughts as Edward voiced them, "For I have imprinted on him. He will keep both secrets of your kind's existence as well as mine."

Aro was obviously intrigued, "May I see if this is true?"

McKenna nodded her red and white head as she padded slowly forward, she touched her muzzle to Aro's hand. Before that I cut off all links that connected the others to McKenna's thoughts, some things deserved to be private, and that included the intense love that came with imprinting. Only Edward and Aro would know.

Aro pulled his hand away, and I noticed that McKenna's upper lip twitched. I could imagine how hard it was not to snap her jaws closed on Aro's hand.

"Amazing," Aro whispered. He turned to face Jane and Alec, "Let him go dear ones…"

Caius snarled, "What? Just like that?"

"She has a strong bond with that human," Marcus said in a bored tone.

Aro nodded, "Indeed, and since that is so it would be unwise of us to ignite a battle with these shape shifters. Not to mention that the boy will not talk if his…mate…is a shape shifter and her existence needing to be a secret along with ours."

I prayed Hiro wouldn't say anything as Jane and Alec released him. Hiro merely staggered over on unsteady legs till he clutched at McKenna's withers, looking ill.

Aro turned to face Carlisle, "Forgive us for our misunderstanding old friend."

Carlisle didn't answer; he merely gazed at Aro with hard eyes. Aro didn't need another hint, and apparently neither did Caius, or Marcus, for the left along with their guard.

It was several minutes after the Voltouri had left that Alice said, "They're gone now."

"A little warning would have been nice, Alice," Edward teased. Alice merely stuck her tongue out at him.

Hiro said, his voice amazingly steady for someone who had just found out that vampires and shape shifters were real, "Let me get this straight!" We all looked at him, "You're vampires!" He gestured at my family and I, and we nodded. "So…who are these wolves?" McKenna shook to make him released his hold on her withers so she turned to face him, her eyes her light blue eyes meeting his. He gasped, and said softly, "McKenna?"

I was getting better at connecting minds as I allowed theirs to touch as McKenna answered him, _"Yes."_

Hiro jumped, but he decided to take advantage of this strange connection, _"How…"_

"_That'd be me," _I supplied for him. Hiro glanced my way looking utterly bewildered, before he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked aloud.

Hiro sighed, "I really don't know!"

Jasper supplied, "Nervous…still."

"Yeah," Hiro muttered. He looked at all of us, "Are you sticking around?"

This question took me off guard, but Carlisle said, "The wolves will be, we have to move to another place…we've been here too long and it'd be difficult to explain Sara's drastic change."

Hiro looked crestfallen, "But…"

"I'm sure we'll see each other again," I reassured him. I was glad that I still had some human emotions.

Hiro grinned as McKenna leaned against him a bit, "Yeah. You're right."

"You're coming with us?" I asked Josh incredulously as we sat in the forest.

He nodded, "You're my perfect match. I can't live without you." I knew he meant those words. "Besides…believe it or not…you being a vampire works great for our me." I raised an eyebrow at him. "What I mean is…I actually love being able to change into a wolf, I love the strength I have, the speed…I'm not willing to give it up. Not to mention in keeping my shape shifting abilities I can stay young…just like you."

If I had had any blood I would have blushed, but seeing as I didn't have any blood, I merely smiled. But I frowned as I asked, "What do your parents think?"

"They're not exactly happy," he answered. "But I just told them that I had found my perfect match, so they're sort of happy." He placed his hot hand over my ice cold one then, and I my smile returned. I heard Carlisle and Esme call for us to come back to the house so we could leave, but that was when our lips met and we became temporarily oblivious to the world.


	46. Epilogue

**DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's _Twilight Saga_, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.**

_It seems like only yesterday that I wished I was going camping with the Cullens, and now here I am with my own family…!_ I mused as I started to pitch the tent along with my wife, McKenna. Our two kids were busy investigating the unique pools that held ocean life so far away from the ocean. Thoughts of the Cullens brought back the familiar ache in my chest for my two best friends, Sara Cullen and Josh Ulley, a vampire and werewolf/shape shifter. Three days after the scare we had had with the Voltouri, McKenna and I had decided to head over to visit them after school since neither Sara (which was understandable since she was frightening gorgeous and had blood red eyes) and Josh (which was very odd since he had been coming to school still) had not been at school. When we arrived at the house there was no sign of them anywhere. The cars were gone, the house was completely devoid of life (no pun intended!) and it looked like the Cullens had never existed.

I must have sighed heavily, since McKenna gently touched my hand, and I smiled at her. My beautiful wife who had managed to learn how to control her transformations into a wolf, I hadn't seen her transform for over twenty years now. I honestly thought she was gorgeous and perfect either way, though I did fear that our two children might experience what she did if vampires ever returned to the area (I truly hoped not! They were a handful without being able to transform into strong wolves!)

A gasp from McKenna made me look at her. She was staring at the cliff above us. I followed her gaze, since she was smiling, and I was soon smiling as well, after my initial shock faded.

Poised on the cliff above us were two familiar figures. One was a slight figure, her short brown hair being blown about by the breeze, and I could tell the color of her eyes from hear that had finally settled into the golden, amber color of her family. Standing next to this beautiful predator, was a white wolf that dwarfed her, her head only coming to its withers. Its muscular body was obliviously built for speed.

Taking my eyes off of them for one second, after having stared for several minutes, I turned to smile at McKenna, and she was smiling at me. Our two friends had returned! We turned back to see if we could catch their attention, but they were gone. McKenna and I stared at each other, wondering if it had just been our imaginations…

Josh and I moved nimbly through the trees away from the cliff where we had viewed our old friends, Hiro and McKenna. It was nice to see that they were living happy lives even after we had left.

_"Can we take the dry route back to Alaska?"_ Josh pleaded. _"My fur's still drying out from our swim!"_

_"I don't see why not," _I answered. _"Unless you want to stop for a bit and rest."_ I shot him a coy glance, and Josh met it, slowing as he turned into a human, and wrapped his arms around me as we started to kiss passionately…


End file.
